EU cuts annual tuna fishing quota to 16,780 tons vs 18,300

The European Commission has cut its quota for blue-fin tuna fishing for 2007 to 16,779.55 tonnes from 18,301 tonnes in 2006 as part of a global agreement to prevent the fish from being hunted to extinction.

On a national level, Spain was allocated the biggest quota at 5,568.21 tonnes, closely followed by France at 5,493.65 tonnes, with Italy, the third of the EU's big tuna fishers, set a quota of 4,336.31 tonnes.

The Commission also endorsed a range of control measures adopted at a meeting in Tokyo last month of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, which includes 43 countries or areas among them the European Union.

The plan seeks to restore tuna stocks over 15 years. Overfishing is currently threatening the market and the species.

The joint plan calls for better coordination to track trade, including by tagging fish to verify catch numbers and sharing information to blacklist illegal fishing vessels.

Environmentalists have warned that tuna face eventual extinction if fishing continues at current rates to feed a worldwide fad for Japanese food.

Japan, which eats a quarter of the world's tuna and sends its fleet worldwide to catch the fish, agreed last month to a quota of 2,175 tonnes in 2010, down from 2,830 tonnes in 2006.

Seafood/Bvom – 03/03/07

Here is a link to the story.
http://www.bvom.com/news/english/news/index.asp?.sequence=49978&.this=59

Lets hope its not too little too late!!!