United Kingdom-based tuna canner Princes has asked the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) to hold an emergency meeting to develop a rebuilding plan for dwindling yellowfin stocks.
Following the IOTC's recent annual meeting in Hyderabad, India, the European Commission said it regretted that the group's policies on yellowfin were "not ambitious enough to reduce current overfishing". Several other groups including the WWF have criticized IOTC members over their failure to act on yellowfin rebuilding.
Princes, which is owned by Japan's Mitsubishi Corporation, has major processing operations based in the island nation of Mauritius.
“Whilst some progress was made at the IOTC meeting the measures taken around the critical element of rebuilding yellowfin stocks did not go far enough,” David McDiarmid, Princes corporate relations director, said. “We therefore join the WWF in asking the IOTC to call an emergency session that focuses on solutions that will make a difference.”