EU bans bluefin tuna fishing

Brussels -- The European Commission announced fishing for endangered bluefin tuna will not be allowed in the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean for the remainder of 2007.

The ban -- which affects Cyprus, Greece, Malta, Portugal and Spain -- comes after EU member states reached their 2007 quota of 16,779.5 tons of fish, the BBC said Wednesday.

Italy and France have already closed their fisheries for the year.

"Clearly there are problems both of over-fishing a stock already threatened with collapse and of equity between the member states concerned," said EU Fisheries Commissioner Joe Borg.

He said countries that have not reached their allocation of the quota before the ban takes effect will be eligible for future compensation.

The EU said the decline of bluefin tuna is largely due to undeclared over-fishing in the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean.

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Copyright 2007 by United Press International.