EU drops demand for ban on commercial bluefin tuna fishing

By Lewis Smith Attempts to save the bluefin tuna from extinction suffered a serious setback yesterday when the European Union dropped its demand for commercial fishing of the species to be banned. A rearguard action by Mediterranean fishing nations, including Spain, Italy and France, blocked moves to get the European Union to support a worldwide ban. Conservationists backed by celebrities including Stephen Fry have called for a trading ban to give the species a chance to recover. Yesterday’s setback was met with dismay. Lobbying by Japan, whose sushi trade is heavily dependent on Europe’s bluefin exports, is thought to have played a vital role in the conservationists’ defeat. Stavros Dimas, the European Commissioner for the environment, was among those dismayed by the failure to conserve bluefin tuna. He is now pinning his hopes on a meeting in November of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas to introduce tough measures to protect the fish. One of Mr Dimas’s officials said: “They need to come up with conservation protection measures that live up to the scientific evidence – which so far they have failed to do.” …