All the 27 member countries of the European Union agreed to a stable or partially reduced quota for bluefish tuna on Wednesday. This occurred ahead of a 10-day meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas in Paris. The agreement ended a protracted squabble between European Union fisheries Commissioner, Maria Damanaki, who was for a significant reduction and states opposed to the idea including France, Italy, Malta and Spain.

The countries agreed to negotiate the bluefish tuna quota between its current 13,500 level and a partial reduction. It was disclosed by a European diplomat that the 27 members were prepared to accept a 2000-tonne reduction.

The Paris meeting which will run until the 27th of November seeks to strike a balance between saving the species from extinction and maintaining the booming multi-million dollar business. According to environmentalist groups such as Greenpeace, should the worldwide quota be reduced to 6000 tones, chances of the stock reaching sustainable levels would rise by 66% by the year 2020.

Earlier, some Mediterranean countries had rejected proposals by the EU Executive arm to reduce the quota for the catching of the endangered species.

The bluefish tuna which is known by the Japanese as ‘kuro maguro’, is a mainstay of sushi. Three quarters of the global catch of the endangered species is consumed by the Japanese.

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