Tuna – catch or discard The Greenland Ministry of Fisheries, Hunting and Agriculture is looking into the possibility of Greenland becoming a member of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT), an organisation for tuna exporting countries. However, it is still not clear whether Greenland should apply to become a contracting party or a cooperator. Regardless of which sort of membership, it may be some time before Greenland can export tuna which is caught as bycatch during mackerel fishing. “The Ministry has launched a study to find out whether Greenland can become a member of ICCAT. We have not yet submitted an application, and at the end of the day doing so is a political decision. However, it is a process that can take some time because there are many aspects which have to be considered before submitting an application to ICCAT,” says Katrin Vilhelm Poulsen, Head of Section at the Ministry of Fisheries, Hunting and Agriculture, and adds: “What speaks in favour of applying for ICCAT membership is that we are only able to sell tuna if Greenland is covered by ICCAT membership. If the trend of such large catches continues, it obviously represents a fabulous new source of income for Greenland.” “The question, however, is whether ICCAT membership really is an advantage for us.” “We would have to adhere to a very strict set of rules. In addition, there are other factors, such as workload in relation to administering the membership, which have to be taken into consideration. ICCAT membership is a tricky issue, which depends on many factors, so per- In summer 2014, The Sunday Times in the UK published an article about the movements of tuna across the Atlantic and how they have changed, probably as a result of global warming. The picture shows tuna being fished in the Denmark Strait between Greenland and Iceland. haps membership as a ‘cooperator’ offers better possibilities for Greenland,” explains Katrin Vilhelm Poulsen. Since exploratory fishing for mackerel in East Greenland started in 2012, three tuna fish were caught in 2012, no tuna were caught in 2013, while in 2014 as many as 42 tuna were caught, weighing a total of 13 tonnes. The fact that the Atlantic bluefin tuna, which is considered a high-value fish, was caught as bycatch during the exploratory fishing for mackerel in East Greenland came as a surprise for scientists but also for Greenland’s Ministry of Fisheries, Hunting and Agriculture. “It is very unusual to find tuna in Greenland. The last time tuna were registered here was in Qaqortoq in 1900,” says Katrin Vilhelm Poulsen. Hard to sell Royal Greenland’s trawlers caught 22 tuna as bycatch during the exploratory fishing for mackerel in East Greenland in summer and autumn 2014. As Greenland is not a member of ICCAT and is therefore not permitted to export tuna abroad, Royal Greenland has found it 4 NAVIGATIO NO. 1 2015
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