European Union member states have confirmed they will vote for a ban on international commercial trade in Atlantic bluefin tuna during the meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) which starts this week in Qatar.

EU members said yesterday they would vote to list Atlantic bluefin tuna on Appendix I of the convention, joining a growing list of supporting countries, including the USA.

The decision was welcomed by conservationists.  Dr Sergi Tudela, Head of Fisheries at WWF Mediterranean, said: “WWF welcomes the EU announcement, which will give this devastated species the possibility to recover. Other governments must back the ban when they meet for CITES later this week.

“The EU is a major trade and development partner in many key regions of the world, and some countries may have been hanging back on Atlantic bluefin tuna to see what the Europeans would decide to do,” Tudela said. “With the two largest holders of bluefin tuna fishing quota on either side of the Atlantic – the US and EU – now supporting the trade ban, other countries should follow suit.”

However, the EU is backing exemptions for traditional fishers, and deferring the ban for a year.

Dr Tudela said: “We do not understand the continuing need on the part of the EU for conditions to be attached to the Appendix I listing. WWF believes this trade ban should be implemented immediately, without conditions or delay.

“The EU must now push for widespread support of this proposal during the CITES meeting.”

The proposal to list Atlantic bluefin tuna on CITES Appendix I was submitted by the Principality of Monaco in October. Atlantic bluefin tuna is at serious risk of commercial extinction because of decades of unsustainable and illegal fishing in the Mediterranean Sea, driven by demand from Japan’s luxury seafood markets.

The eligibility of Atlantic bluefin tuna for the CITES Appendix I listing proposal is backed by independent experts including a United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization panel, and the scientific committee of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), the regional fisheries management organisation in charge of this fishery.

The 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES CoP 15) will take place on March 13-25.

The Convention is an international agreement between governments that aims to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival in the wild.