Europe’s bluefin tuna made a remarkable comeback. Will it last?

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Europe’s bluefin tuna made a remarkable comeback. Will it last?  Europe's Atlantic bluefin tuna populations have made a reassuring comeback after nearly collapsing two decades ago. Today, tight international controls keep fishing sustainable across the Mediterranean and East Atlantic — under close scientific oversight.  In partnership with the European Commission  READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2025/09/30/europes-bluefin-tuna-made-a-remarkable-comeback-will-it-last  Subscribe to our channel. Euronews is available on Dailymotion in 12 languages

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00:00Off France's southern coast lies a crucial habitat of one of the region's most valuable

00:06and closely watched fish, the Atlantic bluefin tuna. A species that in recent decades went from

00:13near collapse to remarkable recovery. Local fisherman Vincent D'Aquino knows exactly how

00:21much tuna he can still catch this year. He has a smartphone app tracking his quota in real time.

00:30Vincent catches tuna with fishing poles that cause minimal harm to other species. On average,

00:41he and his young colleague Jeremy only catch one or two tunas during a full day at sea.

01:00But today isn't about catching fish to sell. On board are two scientists from Ifremer,

01:07France's National Ocean Research Institute, conducting a European-funded study of tuna migration.

01:14Once Vincent and Jeremy catch a bluefin tuna, they carefully lifted the board. The fish is placed on a

01:21special mat with its eyes covered to reduce stress. Researcher Tristan Rouillet uses a special tool to

01:29quickly attach an electronic tag before releasing the fish back into the sea.

01:33C'est le seul outil qui nous permet vraiment de suivre l'émigration du temps. Donc on va lui mettre

01:39un petit engin comme ça et on va le programmer pour enregistrer la température, la pression et la lumière.

01:46Et grâce à ces informations, on va pouvoir reconstruire la trajectoire de l'animal.

01:50Dix, trente-sept. Super. Un pression marqué.

02:00This work contributes to preventing past mistakes from happening again. Back in the 1990s and early

02:082000s, bluefin tuna was in crisis. The high-end sushi and sashimi market was booming in Asia and

02:14worldwide. Prices for this luxury delicacy soared. Industrial fleets operated across the Mediterranean

02:20without effective oversight, catching far beyond sustainable limits. Scientists raised the alarm.

02:26Environmental activists clashed with fishers, demanding to stop the destruction of the species.

02:44Today, things are completely different. Back in Certe, France's main bluefin tuna fishing hub,

02:52large Seine vessels sit idle at the docks. Their quota limits allow them to fish only a few weeks

02:58each year. Both industrial and small-scale fleets now face strict rules and tight control.

03:06The turnaround came in 2007 when a tuna recovery plan took effect across the entire region.

03:12Strict quotas, reduced fleets, limited fishing seasons, and international inspections that ended

03:19uncontrolled overfishing. In 2007, bluefin tuna catches dropped by six times. This allowed tuna

03:27populations to bounce back quickly. Fishing increased again, but now within safe limits.

03:34Bertrand Wendling leads Satohan, a major fishing cooperative in Certe.

03:39Bertrand Wendling leads Satohan, a Keuroraed house.

03:40He has a target compared to 70% in its category.

03:41We feel like the range has reached itsсе, right now...

03:45...so far enough until now, while the many snail预se...

03:46...st 취ven был with animals in the meantime, that thoseidence GOT'S areavaitain...

03:52...so this quantity is ordained and

03:59there are so high enough species that tote up with us.

04:00We really work to ensure that the management and control are strong

04:04so that we don't get back to the past.

04:08This boat's returned from sea at night.

04:10But the fishers had to wait until the designated time,

04:138.30 in the morning, to unload their catch at the designated spot.

04:18Authorities can arrive for surprise inspections.

04:21Each fish is weighed and labeled.

04:23It will be tracked all the way to the consumer's plate.

04:26The fishers say they're now seeing more bluefin tuna than before.

04:40But this is a highly migratory species

04:43with complex reproduction that varies year to year.

04:47How can we be certain the populations are actually recovering?

04:50That's another part of Tristan Rouyer's research.

04:54Besides sea campaigns tagging individual tuners,

04:57he leads aerial surveys of the sea.

04:59We're going to fly at 1,000 feet, about 300 meters.

05:03And then we're going to try to count everything we're going to see under the plane.

05:07The small airplane allows the scientists

05:10to quickly survey large areas of the Mediterranean Sea

05:13near the French-Spanish border.

05:15Juliet Champagnat recently joined Yves Remer,

05:19and this is her first aerial survey.

05:22You can put your head in the bubble and start looking at it.

05:27We're going to count the number of red bands

05:30that we're going to observe that are being loaded on the surface.

05:33And we're going to compare how this number evolves

05:35from one year to another.

05:38The flights cover the same area repeatedly.

05:41This ensures the collected data is consistent.

05:44We're going to take a look at it.

05:46Look, I have one here.

05:48Bang!

05:49Wait, you're going to see.

05:50I'm going to go to the right side.

05:52On the left, they jump.

05:54Aerial surveys, combined with electronic tagging,

05:58provide better understanding of tuna population changes.

06:04Oh, there's some fish.

06:06Oh, well, you've seen the fish.

06:09You've seen the fish.

06:10Oh, here's the fish.

06:11You've seen the fish.

06:12You've seen the fish.

06:13The idea is to be able to estimate how much of the fish is in the area

06:17and then to ensure management and sustainable management.

06:23This work in the air and at sea

06:25provides the scientific basis for fishing poters,

06:28allowing international bodies to keep bluefin tuna fishing

06:31in the Mediterranean and East Atlantic Ocean sustainable.

06:34On a vu une très grande augmentation d'abondance depuis les années 2000,

06:40entre 2000 et 2020.

06:41Alors pour vous donner un ordre d'idée, dans les années 2000,

06:44ils faisaient une saison complète, donc entre 8 et 12 vols.

06:47Ils voyaient 60 bancs.

06:49Dans les années 2020, on avait des vols où on voyait plus de 300 bancs par vol, par vol.

06:54Donc c'est vraiment une augmentation qui était très substantielle.

06:57Et depuis 2020, on a une espèce de stabilisation qui est en train de se faire,

07:01mais comme on a beaucoup de variations au fur et à mesure des ans,

07:04on ne voit pas encore très bien si c'est un déclin ou si c'est une stabilisation.

07:08Could bluefin tuna decline again to dangerous levels like in the 1990s ?

07:13The future of this iconic species,

07:16and of the next generation of fishers,

07:18depends on strict adherence to sustainability rules.

07:22It also depends on scientists keeping close watch on the stocks.

07:28On sait que la pêchier légale recommence à se développer dans certains endroits,

07:32donc il faut vraiment garder un oeil sur cet aspect-là,

07:35c'est vraiment un verrou qui est très très important.

07:38Si on perd contrôle sur cette pêcherie, sur ces aspects-là,

07:41on retournera probablement dans les problèmes.

07:43Pour l'instant, though, bluefin tuna remains

07:46one of the best success stories of international efforts

07:50to bring an endangered species back from the brink.

07:58C'est parti.

08:00Sous-titrage Société Radio-Canada

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