The European Union on Wednesday decided to extend its support to a proposed ban on the international trade from the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea.
Malta was the only member of the 27-member European bloc to vote against the proposal, which will be presented at the forthcoming meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in Doha, Qatar.
Sweden and Austria also abstained from voting on the measure, while France, Italy, Spain, Greece and Cyprus had initially opposed the measure, changed their position on Wednesday to vote in favor of the ban.
The EU move comes as bluefin tuna stocks in the eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean have shrunk nearly 60 percent from 1997 to 2007, mainly due to overfishing prompted by surging demand. It is estimated that the current bluefin tuna stocks across the globe is about 15% of its level before industrial fishing began.
The EU said Wednesday that it would support a total ban on global bluefin tuna trade if it comes into force only by the end of next year's season, noting that it would then give the fishermen time to adapt and provide the international tuna fishing body ICCAT to impose its own controls.
The EU member states also agreed to push for including elephants and polar bears, along with bluefin tuna, to the list of endangered species during the March 13-27 CITES meeting in Doha. However, the proposal must be backed by at least two-thirds of the 175 CITES member countries for it to come into force.
With Wednesday's decision, the European Union joins the United States in supporting the global ban on bluefin tuna trade. However, Japan, which is the largest consumer of the world's bluefin tuna catch, has indicated that it may opt out of CITES control.
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