Hope for bluefin tuna

THE future of the bluefin tuna could be decided within days, along with two other endangered fish – the spiny dogfish and porbeagle – according to a national conservation charity.

The Marine Conservation Society (MCS) said the northern Atlantic bluefin tuna, Thunnus thynnus, considered one of the most majestic species in European waters, had been fished for centuries and the effects had taken their toll. Northern bluefin is now classed as endangered in the Eastern Atlantic by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the same rating as orang-utans and tigers.

The Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna meet on Saturday to discuss which species should be added to their list.