Accusations of overfishing and unfair practices are fuelling tensions at an international tuna summit being held this week on the French island of Réunion.
As concern grows over shrinking tuna stocks in the Indian Ocean, delegates from more than 30 countries have gathered for the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission’s annual summit, hosted this year by France.
Scientists warn that tuna populations in the region remain under pressure after decades of intensive fishing. Hundreds of thousands of tonnes are caught each year, and campaigners say industrial fleets are taking an unsustainable share.
The five-day talks aim to set new rules on how much tuna can be caught – and by whom – in one of the world’s most intensely exploited oceans.
“We don’t want factory ships taking all the fish in the sea and preventing small-scale fishers from earning a living,” said French Ecological Transition Minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher, who opened the summit on Sunday.
But environmental groups say France and the European Union are among the biggest contributors to the problem, warning that EU-linked industrial fleets are themselves causing serious damage.
“Clearly, France and the European Union need to clean up their own backyard before lecturing the entire world.”
Discussions behind the scenes are tense, with sharp disagreement over how to divide quotas fairly between countries.
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