It is shameful that Malta has emerged as the country with the highest number of recorded infringements in the bluefin tuna ranching trade in 2010, Alternattiva Demokratika said yesterday.

The news emerged from infringement reports issued by International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT), the international regulator of the bluefin tuna industry.

AD chairman Michael Briguglio said: “It is shameful that the Maltese government keeps playing to the tune of big business interests, which are only interested in making as much profit in the shortest timeframe possible, periling tuna populations in the process.”

He said the unsustainable fishing of bluefin tuna would not only lead to extinction of the species but would also endanger the livelihood of the majority of Maltese fishermen who used traditional methods of fishing.

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