MEDITERRANEAN TRAPS IN THE 21 ST CENTURY: RESEARCH TOOLS FOR THE CONSERVATION OF BLUEFIN TUNA

This paper discusses the interest which bluefin traps offer to provide scientific information used by ICCAT scientists. There is no doubt that the historical activities of traps have been providing during centuries a wide range of valuable scientific data on the variability of the biological productivity of the stock, on its migration routes and dates, on its spawning seasons and locations, etc. As most of the traps have been targeting bluefin tuna during their migration towards and from their spawning strata, they have been providing valuable information on the various components of the bluefin stocks that are permanently migrating or/and resident in the Mediterranean Sea. This question of the Mediterranean stock structure is considered to be of major potential importance for the conservation of the bluefin stock. However, it appears today that these traps may soon be vanishing because of their high operating costs and their low total allowable catches. The paper concludes that the ICCAT and its member countries should find efficient ways to maintain fully active traps and to transform them in scientific bluefin observatories.