Earth Equity News

EU Nations Fail to Agree on Bluefin Tuna Ban. By Raf Casert, AP, September 22, 2009. "A sharply divided European Union failed on September 22 to protect the threatened bluefin tuna, as the bloc's Mediterranean nations refused to back even a temporary a ban on catching the fish prized by sushi aficionados. The EU's executive commission urged EU governments to agree to a temporary ban until the stocks recovered but Greece, Cyprus, Malta, Spain, France and Italy -- with strong fishermen's lobbies at home -- insisted on continuing the hunt despite the precarious state of the species. For environmentalists, the move means a further step toward the bluefin tuna's commercial extinction. 'They are pushing tuna to the point of no return,' said Xavier Pastor of the Oceana protection group…Stocks of the threatened bluefin, which have been hunted since Roman times in the Mediterranean, have dwindled for years, with Japan taking some 80% of bluefin exports to satisfy demands for the finest raw fish ingredient. The tuna's uncertain status has driven up prices and prompted fishermen to sidestep stringent quotas to fish illegally for big profits. Tuna weighing up to 1,100 pounds (500 kilograms) were once found in the Mediterranean, but large fish are now a rarity. Nowadays, fishermen often catch very small tuna before they can reproduce, placing them in cages to be fattened until they are big enough for sale."