France, Malta call for 'transparency' in EU tuna row

0 Comments | AFP, June, 2008

VALLETTA (AFP) — Visiting French Agriculture Minister Michel Barnier complained Friday of a "lack of transparency" in the European Commission's decision to cut short the bluefin tuna fishing season.

Noting that Malta's Resources and Rural Affairs Minister George Pullicino had told him that the Mediterranean nation's bluefin tuna catch this year was two-thirds less than in 2007, Barnier said: "We'd like to know, we must know where the tunas are."

Both France and Malta "expect the (European) Commission to communicate the precise figures" on tuna stocks, he told AFP before leaving for Cyprus to wrap up a tour of European capitals in preparation for the French EU presidency.

He called for a "precise and competent and transparent working relationship with the...