EU rejects tuna proposals

BELGIUM: Europe's Mediterranean fishing nations have rejected measures to protect the endangered bluefin tuna proposed last month by the European Union fishing chief Maria Damanaki, EU officials said on Thursday.

The decision late on Wednesday means the 27-nation EU joins international quota talks in Paris this week without a mandate for negotiating tough measures to conserve the fish, whose numbers have declined by more than half over the last 40 years.

The EU was seen as a key champion of Atlantic bluefin, which can grow to the size of an average horse, accelerate faster than a sports car and can fetch $100,000 each at market in Japan, where they are prized by sushi lovers. The total bluefin quota for 2010 was set at 13,500 tonnes and Damanaki said last month that to give the giant fish a real chance of recovery.

Reuters