The 2011 quota would drop from 13,500 tonnes this year to 12,900 tonnes, according to the 30-page "draft recommendation" of the 48-member International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT).

Conservationists and some nations here favour a much lower cap -- 6,000 tonnes -- to ensure the species can return to sustainable levels.

"Even if we see a modest reduction, it's not enough because it makes the assumption that compliance will be perfect," said Sue Lieberman, policy director for the Washington-based Pew Environment Group.

"It ignores all the evidence of fraud, illegal fishing and laundering," she said on the sidelines of the meeting.

The cuts proposed can only be seen as "symbolic," said a participant who asked not to be named because the talks are still under way.

Currently, bluefin in the region are at 85 percent of historical levels and 30 percent of "maximum sustainable yield", the target for recovery.

The 10-day meeting, set to end Saturday, also makes some changes in how the tuna pie will divvied up among a half-a-dozen European nations, and 15 fishing countries in Asia and north Africa.

Algeria would give up 80 percent of its 2010 share, with the ceded portion distributed among Libya, Turkey and Egypt, according to the document, which has yet to be approved in plenary.

The EU share -- taken up mainly by France, Spain and Italy -- would remain the same, at 56 percent.

France, meanwhile, has apparently not given up its back-door effort to erase or extend its "tuna debt", incurred in 2007 when it surpassed a national quota of 5,000 tonnes by more than 100 percent.

Without relief, its bluefin haul for 2011 will drop from about 2,000 to 500 tonnes, barely enough to keep a couple of commercial vessels busy during the one- or two-month long fishing season.

The item is not on the official agenda of the meeting, and France is not allowed to argue its case outside the common EU position.

If, however, another country -- perhaps Morocco, according to one source -- proposes in plenary that all so-called "payback" schemes be spread over several rather than two years, France would wind up the sole beneficiary.

The overall objective of the "multiannual recovery plan" under review is to achieve sustainable population levels by 2022.

An October report by ICCAT's scientific committee says a 12,900 tonne annual quota would put the species on track for a 65-to-70 percent chance of recovering to "maximum sustainable yield" by that date.

Conservationists argue that a one-third chance of failure is too high, and that even this estimate is based on optimistic assumptions and incomplete data.

Measures to strengthen safeguards against fraud and over-fishing have also bee introduced.

The draft document includes a Japanese proposal whereby each country's ability to monitor and police its catches of bluefin would be first submitted to ICCAT's compliance committee for approval.

It also bans for the first time multi-nation fishing operations by countries with sizable tuna fleets, a technique that has been used to disguise excess catches.

Some member nations have complained about the lack of transparency within ICCAT, with most key discussions taking place in the corridors rather than the formal meeting.

del.icio.us	Digg	Reddit
YahooMyWeb	Google	Facebook

Memory Foam Mattress Review

SPACE MEDIA NETWORK PROMOTIONS Solar Energy Solutions Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison ... Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News