Tuna Fishing Club rejects quota is ‘out of proportion’ for Gibraltar

The Gibraltar Tuna Fishing Club (GFTC) has said it is “disappointed” by local environmental groups criticism of this year’s Atlantic bluefin tuna quota increase, adding it is based on a “misunderstanding of how international quotas are allocated”.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, the club responded to a recent press release from the Gibraltar Ornithological and Natural History Society and the Environmental Safety Group, which stated Gibraltar’s quota was “out of proportion” to its size and territorial waters.

The GTFC said the comparison misunderstood the process established by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, known as ICCAT.

According to the club, ICCAT allocations are based on factors including historical catches, fishing fleet capacity, established fishing rights and long-standing political agreements, rather than population, land area or territorial waters.

“Population, size and territorial waters are therefore irrelevant measures by which Gibraltar's allocation should be judged,” the statement said.

President of the GFTC Samuel Marrache described how Gibraltar does not have a recreational or commercial fishery, adding that in his view the local quota is akin to a commercial quota as fishermen are allowed to kill and capture under law, with the sale of tuna only being prohibited in the closed season.

He said that anyone who actually catches and sells tuna locally is not “getting rich” but rather he has found most manage to recover their fuel and tackle costs in this costly hobby.

The club also challenged the comparison with Spain, saying that if population were used as a measure, Gibraltar’s allocation was lower than Malta’s on a per capita basis.

The GFTC said that Malta, for example, has an annual quota of 540 tonnes and a population of approximately 560,000, equivalent to approximately 964 tonnes per million inhabitants.

“Gibraltar's quota of 30 tonnes, based on a population of around 39,000, equates to approximately 769 tonnes per million inhabitants, lower than that of Malta,” the club said.

It added that Gibraltar’s annual quota of 30 tonnes would take 18 years to equal Malta’s annual allocation and more than 220 years to match Spain’s quota.

The GTFC said Gibraltar’s quota had increased this year because ICCAT had raised quotas for European countries generally.

It said the United Kingdom’s allocation had increased from around 66 tonnes in 2025 to approximately 230 tonnes annually for the 2026 to 2028 period, representing a 248% increase, while Gibraltar’s quota had increased by around 15%.

The club also rejected suggestions that Atlantic bluefin tuna remained a threatened species.

Mr Marrache added that Atlantic Bluefin tuna have grown in numbers and are “destroying everything in their path”, and that this year’s quota has not been disproportionate as Gibraltar’s fishing has no impact on the species as a whole.

The club noted that the International Union for Conservation of Nature classifies Atlantic bluefin tuna as being of "Least Concern", which it said reflected the success of international conservation measures in rebuilding stocks.

“This does not mean that fishing should be unrestricted,” the club said.

The GTFC said it continued to support sustainable rod-and-reel fishing, appropriate catch limits and responsible management of the fishery.

It added that its members regularly participate in tag-and-release programmes and work with students from the University of Gibraltar on research into bluefin tuna migration.

The club said it was “disappointing” that GONHS and the ESG have chosen to challenge Gibraltar's tuna fishery without first engaging with those directly involved.

“During GBC's ‘Gibraltar Today’ programme on Monday, the ESG's representative acknowledged that the organisation's understanding of local tuna fishing was lacking and accepted that further engagement with local fishermen would be beneficial,” the club said,

“One would have thought that before issuing a press release, this is what both GONHS and the ESG should have done - consulted fishermen, engaged with the GTFC and better understood fishing in Gibraltar.”

“The admitted failure to do so demonstrates that their criticism has been made without first obtaining a balanced understanding of Gibraltar’s tuna fishery.”

The club said it believes that meaningful discussion should be based on evidence, scientific understanding and informed dialogue.

“We remain willing to engage constructively with any organisation that wishes to better understand Gibraltar's sustainable tuna fishery and the framework within which it operates,” the GTFC said.

“Public debate on fisheries management should always be based on informed dialogue rather than misconceptions and irrelevant comparison, the sorts of which have been adopted by GONHS and the ESG.”