Brussels - Not one of the seven European Union states which fishes for blue-fin tuna has lived up to EU fisheries-protection rules, officials said Wednesday as the EU launched cases against the seven. "It appears that the member states concerned have not met their obligations" in reporting the amount of blue-fin tuna which their fishing fleets have caught, the European Commission - the EU's executive - said in a statement.
"Letters of formal notice have been sent to Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal and Spain for failings in their obligation to send catch data," the statement added.
Last week, the EU, which sets fishing quotas for all its member states, decided to forbid blue-fin tuna fishing in its waters until the end of the year in order to protect long-term stocks.
"Blue-fin tuna is dwindling due to years of overfishing. It is imperative that the international recovery plan ... be urgently and fully implemented by all fishing parties," the statement said.
As part of the EU's attempts to combat overfishing and illegal catches, member states are required to provide information on the amount of fish which their fishers have caught.
They are also meant to enforce the strict limits which their fishing fleets are given - a task which not all have done to the EC's satisfaction.
"In the case of France and Italy, the infringement procedure also concerns shortcomings in their control in this fishery," the statement said.
Apart from the seven states under investigation, only the UK and Ireland receive a small allocation for blue-fin tuna catches which they make while fishing for albacore, EC officials said.
The seven states have a month to reply to the EC's decision. If the EC finds that they have breached its rules, they could face financial sanctions.
