Bluefin tuna near extinction, says Greenpeace

Brussels: The international environmental group Greenpeace has warned that bluefin tuna is near extinction, as the fishing season ends in the Mediterranean.

"Bluefin tuna is on the brink of extinction and fishing should never have taken place this year - yet another example of how politics have failed our oceans and the Mediterranean", said Greenpeace International oceans campaigner Oliver Knowles in a press release Wednesday.

The European Commission has decided to prematurely end the season from Wednesday midnight.

"Scientists have shown that the only appropriate fishing quota for bluefin tuna is zero. These ships should not have been allowed to fish at all this season," said Greenpeace.