GREEN groups today welcomed the European Commission’s backing for proposals to halt the trade in bluefin tuna, which they say have fallen to “critically low levels” as a result of over-fishing.
Under the plans, the fish would be listed as an endangered species in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites), temporarily suspending trade in the species, which fetches high sums in its main market Japan.
The plan to allow the bluefin tuna a chance to recover was originally put forward by Monaco in July at the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), and has been backed by a number of European governments, including the UK.
Celebrities including Stephen Fry, Joanna Lumley and Elle MacPherson have also lent support to efforts to save the huge predatory fish, writing to Jose Manuel Barroso, European Commission president, to urge backing for the ban.
Tony Long, director of WWF’s European policy office, in Brussels, said the Commission had made “the right choice, leading the EU to heed urgent scientific advice that Atlantic bluefin tuna is dangerously close to collapse”.
The EU will vote in March.
