Under the plans the fish would be listed as an endangered species in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites), temporarily suspending trade in the species, which fetches high sums in its main market Japan.
The plan to allow the bluefin tuna a chance to recover was originally put forward by Monaco in July at the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), and has been backed by a number of European governments including the UK.
Celebrities including Stephen Fry, Joanna Lumley and Elle MacPherson have also lent support to efforts to save the huge predatory fish, writing to Jose Manuel Barroso, European Commission president, to urge backing for the ban.
Tony Long, director of WWF’s European policy office in Brussels, said the commission had made “the right choice leading the EU to heed urgent scientific advice that Atlantic bluefin tuna is dangerously close to collapse” and needed a break from the trade to survive.
“Some EU member states have already joined the call to temporarily ban international trade in Atlantic bluefin - and WWF now urges other countries to follow the European Commission’s lead and back the trade suspension,” he said.
Willie Mackenzie, of Greenpeace, said: “Bluefin tuna populations have fallen to critically low levels. And it has become endangered because of disgraceful fisheries management in the EU.
“But today’s move doesn’t mean that this fish is saved yet. Member states still need to agree to support this ban, and follow the lead of countries like the UK.
“Anyone who is opposed to the proposed trade ban is clearly putting short-term commercial interests above the survival of the species, and the future of the fishing industry.”
A spokesman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: “It is great news that the commission is showing its support for the proposal to give bluefin tuna the highest form of protection, which the UK is backing strongly.
“We will be speaking to other member states to get their agreement to back Monaco’s proposal too.”
The EU will vote on the ban as a bloc at Cites, whose next meeting is in Doha, Qatar, in March.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article