New Zealand ups bluefin tuna quota on failed ban

A week after delegates shot down a proposed international trade ban of Atlantic bluefin tuna, New Zealand is taking heat from the environmental community for a 27% increase in the country's southern bluefin tuna quota.

On Thursday (March 25), the New Zealand Ministry of Fisheries increased the southern bluefin tuna quota from 420 tonnes to 532 tonnes for the current fishing year, which ends on September 30, after which the quota will revert to 420 tonnes.

However, the environmental community condemned the quota increase, arguing that bluefin tuna stocks worldwide are too fragile to withstand increased fishing.