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Empresas y finanzas

EU confirms support for bluefin tuna trade ban


    BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union ambassadors agreed to propose protecting bluefin tuna as an endangered species on Wednesday, the EU presidency said, a move that would effectively ban international trade in the species.

    A meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) will take place from March 13 to consider a number of species, including bluefin tuna, populations of which have been decimated by overfishing.

    The European Commission proposed last month that bluefin tuna be listed as endangered but with a one-year delay, which would allow fishermen time to adapt and the international tuna fishing body ICCAT to impose its own controls.

    Malta voted against the proposed ban while Sweden and Austria abstained, EU sources said.

    (Reporting by Pete Harrison and Charlie Dunmore; Editing by Michael Roddy)