Nature Trust (Malta) and the World Wildlife Fund have expressed their concern over the rejection, by the EU, of a proposal to ban the international trading of Bluefin tuna.

Malta was among the countries which had lobbied against approval of the proposal.

Nature Trust said that short term economic gains were put before long term sustainable fishing and the welfare of this specie.

WWF said that despite the good progress represented by 21 out of 27 European Union Member States which had confirmed their support for the international trade ban, this majority was not enough for the ban to be ordered.

The vote was taken yesterday as a meeting of the EU's Management Committee for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES.

"It is once again large-scale Mediterranean fishing interests trying to gang up against the long-term survival of Atlantic bluefin tuna and the industry this incredible species has sustained for thousands of years," said Aaron McLoughlin, Head of WWF's European Marine Programme. "Such a short-sighted and unambitious stance from the Mediterranean EU Member States against marine conservation is disappointing."

"WWF is calling on other CITES Contracting Parties to stand up for what the European Commission has accepted as necessary - that global trade in endangered Atlantic bluefin must be urgently halted until it is clearly on the road to recovery," continued McLoughlin. "After all, how can anyone enjoy contributing to extinction by buying, selling, cooking or eating a fish whose days are clearly numbered? Enough is enough."