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Britain and France are to lobby governments for an international ban on the sale of bluefin tuna.
Fisheries minister Huw Irranca- Davies confirmed Britain will back the fight to protect the delicacy.
The Nobu chain recently attracted criticism from conservationists after continuing to serve bluefin at its London restaurants.
Nobu did, however, take the step of acknowledging on its menus that the fish is in jeopardy and advised its diners that they should choose another option.
France, which is said to have a bigger bluefin fishing fleet than anyone else, also announced it would support a ban of the fish at the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (Cities).
Support for a ban is almost certain to put Britain on a collision course with Japan, where bluefish is a highly-prized ingredient for sushi and sashimi dishes.
Concern over stocks of the popular fish has grown since the release of the documentary film The End of the Line, which portrayed bluefin tuna as the clearest example of modern over-fishing.
Mr Irranca-Davies said: "I can confirm that the UK will support a Cities listing of bluefin tuna.
"We do think this is not a substitute for Iccat (the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas) and the work it does, but we are pleased to give the proposal for Cities our strong support. We hope that others will come on board as well."
Reader views (3)
Steve, I understand your thinking but keep in mind there are many areas of government, many ministries, and one in particular deals with fish. As such the people in the fisheries ministry are doing what they are supposed to be doing. Now you could argue we don't need a fisheries ministry, but without some serious facts you'll just be all wet.
Many fish populations are endangered, and most in the industry know this. But greed is a powerful force so until the consumer quits buying, the blue tuna will continue to disappear and eventually will be gone for good. This is not subjective greenie bunk, its science, its fact. Burying one's head in the sand does not make the problem go away.
- Trunk, US, 19/07/2009 00:38
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Britain of all countries has far more serious problems to address than the plight of a few fish.
- Steve, London, 17/07/2009 13:43
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I agree...if things go on like this, there will be no tunafish at all....
- Betty, Italy, 17/07/2009 13:18
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