Fishery resources in the Mediterranean Sea: technical measures for the conservation (amend. Regulation (EC) No 1626/94)

OBJECTIVE : to amend Regulation (EC) No 1626/94, in order to avoid an excessive fishing pressure on bluefin tuna in the Mediterranean. SUBSTANCE: In view of the overexploitation of bluefin stocks in the Mediterranean, the Commission proposes that restrictive fisheries measures should be taken in line with the recommendations of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT), with the aim of bringing the fishery back to long-term sustainable levels. It is proposed to: - restrict the use of airborne fish-finding equipment (which has produced a dramatic increase in fishing efficiency), - ban the use of purse seines for tuna fishing in August, in order to reduce fishing mortality of juveniles, - implement specific rules on minimum landing sizes of bluefin tuna: 1.8 kg with no tolerance levels. However, a numerical tolerance of 15% is authorized for the current minimum landing size of 6.4 kg.�