Fish heads : photo courtesy Reuters/Charles Platiau

Environmental News

Dead Bluefin Tuna Heads Dumped By Greenpeace

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 19 November, 2008 : - - Photo: A woman posts a letter behind dead bluefin tuna heads dumped by Greenpeace activists in front of the Agriculture Ministry in Paris November 17, 2008 to protest the continued mismanagement of the Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean bluefin tuna fishery that is leading to the commercial extinction of the species.

Greenpeace activists dumped five tons of tuna fish heads in front of the agriculture ministry building today in Paris in hopes of pressuring the French government to prevent over-fishing of bluefin tuna. The act was timed to coincide with the start of the annual meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna in Marrakech, Morocco, the conservation group said in a statement. France holds the rotating European Union presidency.

Greenpeace said the bluefin heads were dumped to demand closure of the east Atlantic and Mediterranean bluefin tuna's fisheries. European tuna fishing boats, mainly from France, Italy and Spain, last year caught twice as much as the international commission's ``total allowable catch,'' Greenpeace said. Japan, the largest importer of bluefin tuna, values the fish highly for sushi.

The Moroccan meetings of the ICCAT, made up of representatives from 45 countries plus the European Community, will last for eight days. ``Time and tuna are running out,'' said Greenpeace oceans campaigner Francois Provost, who is attending the meeting. 

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Reuters

Environment - Surfersvillage