ASDA joins call to save Mediterranean bluefin tuna – Fishupdate.com

ASDA joins call to save Mediterranean bluefin tuna Published:  13 April, 2007

MAJOR companies and organisations, including UK retailer ASDA, have joined WWF in signing an open letter appealing to the European Commission and Member States to take action to save the Mediterranean bluefin tuna.

As the bluefin tuna fishing season in the Mediterranean is about to begin, WWF and supporting companies and organisations are calling on the European Commission and Member States to set aside half of the fishing quota for bluefin tuna in the Mediterranean this year. They say this would bring fishing levels in line with scientific advice. They are also urging the European Commission to put in place a sensible management plan to bring bluefin tuna and the fishery back from the brink.

“This engagement of retailers and other organisations from across Europe is a strong encouragement to the EU to take action to give bluefin tuna a chance of survival in the Mediterranean,” said Dr Sergi Tudela, Head of Fisheries at WWF Mediterranean. “Not doing so would be an admission that we are incapable of managing a common resource of value to all.”

“In recent years, high-tech fishing fleets have hunted down, often illegally, ever-declining numbers of these ocean giants,” WWF says. “It is now likely that the magnificent bluefin tuna, the fish behind the finest sushi in the world, will disappear from the Mediterranean forever – unless action is taken now.”

The letter has been signed by organisations and companies including the Marine Conservation Society, ASDA, METRO Group, Auchan, Moshi Moshi, Deutsche See and FRoSTA AG.

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