WWF group urges stop to Mediterranean tuna sales

The WWF conservation group urged retailers yesterday to stop selling Mediterranean bluefin tuna as part of a stoppage by several European supermarket chains meant to help stocks recover.

"WWF applauds Auchan in France, Carrefour in Italy, Coop in both Italy and Switzerland, and ICA in Norway for their courageous decisions to stop selling Mediterranean bluefin tuna," said Sergi Tudela, head of fisheries at WWF Mediterranean.

"We urge other retailers to follow suit," he said in a statement coinciding with an international meeting of seafood industry and conservationists being held in Barcelona, Spain.

The WWF says that the Mediterranean bluefin tuna stocks could collapse with current quotas, and that many catches go unreported. Tuna fetch highest prices in Japan, where the red meat is often consumed raw in sushi.

But the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna, which oversees stocks, in November rejected calls by the WWF for a three-year ban on bluefin tuna fishing, reckoning stocks were robust enough.