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| Europe bans bluefin tuna fishing | Europe bans bluefin tuna fishing |
| (20 minutes later) | |
| The European Commission has banned the fishing of endangered bluefin tuna in the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean for the rest of the year. | The European Commission has banned the fishing of endangered bluefin tuna in the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean for the rest of the year. |
| The move was taken to curb over-fishing and dwindling stocks of fish, after the EU reached its 2007 quota. | The move was taken to curb over-fishing and dwindling stocks of fish, after the EU reached its 2007 quota. |
| An EU official said it would move to prevent under-reporting of catches and unequal sharing of the quota. | An EU official said it would move to prevent under-reporting of catches and unequal sharing of the quota. |
| The ban affects Cyprus, Greece, Malta, Portugal and Spain. Italy and France have closed their fisheries for 2007. | The ban affects Cyprus, Greece, Malta, Portugal and Spain. Italy and France have closed their fisheries for 2007. |
| 'Collapse' | |
| Member states had already reached the 2007 quota of 16,779.5 tonnes, the EU said. | Member states had already reached the 2007 quota of 16,779.5 tonnes, the EU said. |
| "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. | "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. |
| Countries that had not reached their allocation of the quota by the time of the ban would be eligible for future compensation under EU legislation, he added. | |
| EU and international rules also exist to punish member states that exceed their quotas. | |
| The endangered bluefin tuna has been plundered for many years in the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean, with high rates of undeclared over-fishing a key cause of the decline, the EU said. | |
| The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) set the annual fishing quota in January. |