Nature Trust (Malta) have announced that the UK and the Netherlands have now put their weight behind a call to ban international trade in endangered Atlantic and Mediterranean bluefin tuna, following last week’s vocal support for the campaign from President Nicolas Sarkozy of France.

This morning Dutch fisheries minister, Gerda Verburg, announced the Netherlands’ backing for a proposal by Monaco to list Atlantic bluefin tuna on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) after a statement Friday from UK fisheries minister Huw Irranca-Davies that Britain is also supporting the global trade ban.

"WWF urges more countries to join this momentum and back the call to ban international trade in the imperilled Atlantic and Mediterranean bluefin tuna – if they want to give bluefin tuna a break and see a healthy fishery again in years to come," said Dr Sergi Tudela, Head of Fisheries at WWF Mediterranean. "A listing on CITES Appendix I is the only way forward to pull Atlantic bluefin tuna back from the brink of collapse."

CITES contracting parties next confer in Doha, Qatar 13-25 March 2010, but proposals need to be submitted by 17 October to be eligible for consideration at the Conference of the Parties.

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