The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas on Thursday called for the recovery of bluefin tuna stocks in the eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean at the end of its two-day meeting in Tokyo.
The statement indicates that ICCAT may again cut bluefin tuna quotas at its annual meeting in November.
ICCAT has already decided to gradually reduce quotas in the eastern Atlantic to 25,500 metric tons in 2010 from 29,500 metric tons in 2007.
Among the meeting's roughly 150 participants from the United States, European Union and Japan, among other countries, there was a growing fear that Mediterranean bluefin tuna stocks may be depleted by overfishing if quotas aren't reduced, reported Kyodo News International.
