difficult to sell the fish, which weighed an average of 200 kg each. However, the company has subsequently sold about 17 tuna, of which the majority were sold to Pisiffik. The tuna which were caught in 2014 were transported to Iceland, but as Iceland is an ICCAT member and is therefore not permitted to receive fish which are not regulated according to ICCAT rules, the tuna were taken to Nuuk, where they have been stored in storage freezers. But what is the situation if, in future, tuna are caught as bycatch when fishing for mackerel when Greenland, as a non-ICCAT member, is unable to export the bycatch? “We have proposed that the government applies for a tuna quota for Greenland. If it is possible to join ICCAT and be allocated a quota, we can then export the bycatch.” “If this proves unsuccessful, then we can approach our existing customers and ask whether they are interested in buying the fish. If it’s not possible to sell the tuna to them and we are unable to be granted ICCAT membership, then we have no other option other than to discard it,” says Lars Nielsen, Group Production Director at Royal Greenland. ICCAT membership Even though Greenland can expect to become a member of ICCAT, it could take a long time before it is granted a quota, explains Katrin Vilhelm Poulsen: “ICCAT membership will probably require that we implement a more comprehensive set of rules concerning reporting, checks and much else. Moreover, it is not certain that, as an ICCAT member, we will receive a quota immediately, because the quota for tuna fish in the entire Atlantic is only 16,000 tonnes or so in 2015.” “ICCAT was formed in the 1970s to ensure the sustainable management of tuna in the Atlantic. The Atlantic bluefin is considered a high-value fish, and stocks have declined severely from overfishing.” “ICCAT has 46 member countries which are awarded quotas on the basis of scientific advice and assessments. Our neighbouring coun- Royal Greenland’s trawlers caught 22 tuna in their nets while fishing for mackerel in East Greenland. Here is the trawler Tuugaalik with the day’s catch. tries Iceland, Canada, the USA and Norway are all members of ICCAT.” “So there are a lot of countries sharing a very small quota. For example, Norway and Iceland were given quotas of 25-35 tonnes in 2014, even though Norway has been a member since 2004, and Iceland since 2002. This goes to show that if Greenland becomes a member, we won’t be able to expect a quota soon. In other words, Greenland won’t be able to export tuna until 2016 at the very earliest,” says Katrin Vilhelm Poulsen, and adds that perhaps thought should be given to Greenland becoming a cooperator member of ICCAT instead of signing up as a full contracting party.” “We are only at the initial stages with regard to applying for ICCAT membership, and being a cooperator member is also a possibility,” says Katrin Vilhelm Poulsen. The Atlantic bluefin tuna spawns in the Mediterranean and the Bay of Mexico, but migrates into the Atlantic during the summer in search of food, with mackerel and herring among its favourite prey. It is very unusual to find the Atlantic bluefin tuna in the waters between East Greenland and Iceland, but warmer waters and prey which have moved into northern waters may be reasons why tuna are being caught in nets during the mackerel fishing in East Greenland. Text: Inga Egede ineg@royalgreenland.com Photo: RG, The Sunday Times NAVIGATIO NO. 1 2015 5
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