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Bluefin Tuna Disappearing from Mediterranean Sea
BRUSSELS, Belgium, September 13, 2006 (ENS) - Wild populations of bluefin tuna in the Mediterranean Sea have plummeted in the past decade, conservationists told the European Parliament's Fisheries Committee on Tuesday. Bluefin tuna are almost completely gone from some of the Mediterranean's oldest fishing grounds, WWF said, and new data indicates the species is in serious peril. "The situation is alarming," said Roberto Mielgo Bregazzi, a fishing expert with WWF, which presented the data to the committee. "The Mediterranean bluefin tuna species is under threat and many jobs in the tuna fishery are being jeopardized." The data show particular concern for the area around Spain's Balearic Islands in the western Mediterranean. Catches in the area are down to just 15 per cent of what they were just a decade ago.
In 1995, more than 14,000 metric tons of tuna were caught in the area - that figure fell to 2,270 tons this year.
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