All along Spain´s southernmost Atlantic coastline, the bluefin
tuna is king. For several weeks at this time every year, menfolk in
coastal towns head out to sea and trap hundreds of these behemoth
fish using an artisanal system of nets known as the
almadraba. They lay walls of mesh to guide the migrating
fish into a catch net, to later haul them out by hand. It is a
dramatic, timeless spectacle, and it is under threat. Watch it
here.
Out in the Mediterranean this month, the Greenpeace flag ship
Rainbow Warrior is campaigning to save the bluefin tuna. Stocks are
on the verge of collapse and the fish faces extinction. But in the
corridors of power in the capitals of Europe, the bureacrats are
not listening. Despite calls for a ban on commercial bluefin
fishing, officials have barely managed a nod in the direction of
reduced quotas. But if we´re going to carry on eating tuna - and
let´s face it, most of us want to - the species must be allowed
time to recover.
Governments gathered at the meeting of the Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species in March failed to
approve a ban on the lucrative trade in Atlantic bluefin meat, a
measure which could have helped avert rapid bluefin tuna
extinction. The International Commission for the Conservation of
Atlantic Tuna, which sets catch quotas, seems equally powerless to
ease pressure on the fisheries. Instead, short term interests are
repeatedly put ahead of the long term survival of the species.
“Time and tuna are running out and urgent action to save our oceans
is needed now from governments and the public," said Oliver
Knowles, Greenpeace International oceans campaigner. "Consumers
must not buy or eat bluefin tuna and governments should put healthy
oceans ahead of short-term profits by changing fishing policies and
creating marine reserves."
Greenpeace is campaigning to establish a global network of marine
reserves- areas of ocean off-limits to fishing, mining, drilling
and other extractive activities- to cover 40 percent of the world’s
oceans, including the Mediterranean. It says this is a necessary
step to restoring the world´s oceans and fish stocks back to
health. You can support the campaign here.
All of this takes me back to the coastal villages of southern
Spain, just an hour or two´s drive from my home in Gibraltar. In
Barbate recently, 50 of Spain´s best known Michelin-starred chefs
descended on the town of Barbate to witness the first catch, or
levantá, at first hand. With the fish on land, they
watched as the largest specimen, a 350-kilo monster, was cut up and
filleted into lush, deep ruby-red hunks of flesh. Then off they
went to a famous local restaurant, El Campero
de Barbate, where they sampled a range of tuna dishes including a
local recipe prepared with bluefin tuna semen, piruleta de
hueva con leche. In this part of the world, no part of this
beautiful fish is wasted.
The chefs were in Barbate at the invitation of the local mayor
and fishermen, who wanted to raise awareness about sustainable
fishing at a time when tuna quotas are under close scrutiny. They
wanted to ensure that this artisanal form of fishing does not
disappear along with the tuna. But without a clampdown on
commercial trawlers and purse seiners out at sea, and unless the
likes of Greenpeace gather weight behind their campaigns, bluefin,
and the fishermen of towns like Barbate, may well have their days
counted.
You can understand the good intentions of these 50 Spanish chefs,
who want to protect a way of life in coastal towns. But with
bluefin teetering on the edge of extinction, perhaps a better
message would have been to keep tuna off the menu altogether, at
least for while. Your thoughts?
Photos via Greenpeace and Efe
Amitayus