The Regional Director for Fisheries stated that the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) has proposed a cut in the Total Allowable Catch (TAC) of Bigeye Tuna "due to the decrease in the abundance of this species." According to the report, it is caused by "the high mortality of juveniles."

Luís Costa spoke Tuesday at the end of the annual meeting of ICCAT, where some important steps were adopted for the future management of tuna fisheries in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean.

"A recommendation proposing a 25% cut in the Bigeye Tuna quota (Thunnus obesus) for all countries was approved," said the Regional Director. "Although the Portuguese delegations defended the stipulation of TAC at 70 thousand tonnes, the European Commission decided to maintain the proposal for 65 tonnes."

"The majority of EU countries and the European Commission have shown no flexibility to positively discriminate the Azores and Madeira in order to mitigate the effects of this cut," added the government official.

According to Luís Costa, the European Commission was alerted to the "specificity of tuna fishing in the Azores Sea," the "huge dependence" of the Azorean fishing communities "on this type of fishing and to use of traditional fishing techniques."

This meeting also decided that Skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis) will remain in the Azores without a TAC, which, according to the Regional Director, "avoids unnecessary restrictions on Azorean shipowners.

With regard to Bluefin Tuna (Thunnus thynnus), Luís Costa stressed that "the situation concerning this species had been assessed last year and the current rules remain", i.e., there is a joint quota with the Autonomous Region of Madeira. Both autonomous regions can catch up to 20 tonnes.

The Regional Director stressed that tuna fishing in the Azores is carried out using "responsible and environmentally sustainable methods," such as the use of pole and line, which are duly recognised and certified with the "Friend of the Sea" and "Dolphin Safe" seals.
 
In addition to the Regional Director for Fisheries, the meeting was also attended by the researcher at the Department of Oceanography and Fisheries of the University of the Azores, João Gil, and the President of the Azores Fisheries Federation, Gualberto Rita.

On the sidelines of the meeting of ICCAT, Luís Costa met with the Head of the European Commission Delegation. They were able to reach "a consensus" on the part the Commission that could help the Azores to exchange quotas with other countries. There will be the possibility of transferring unused quotas to the Region.

The TAC for Portugal will be set by the end of this year. It may benefit from a 15% growth as the limit of the 2014 quota was not reached, which represents an increase of 120 tonnes in the quota for next year.