Fishing ban could save bluefin tuna

Green groups have welcomed EU plans to ban fishing of bluefin tuna over fears worldwide stocks have fallen to critically low levels.

Under the proposal, the fish would be listed as endangered, temporarily suspending trade in the species, which fetches high sums in Japan, and allowing stocks to increase.

Celebrities including Stephen Fry, Joanna Lumley and Elle Macpherson have lent support to efforts to save the huge fish, writing to Jose Manuel Barroso, European Commission president, to back the ban.

WWF's Tony Long said the commission had made "the right choice, leading the EU to heed advice that Atlantic bluefin tuna is dangerously close to collapse".