To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what his Department's negotiating position is on the proposal to include Atlantic bluefin tuna (thunnus thynnus) on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. (309678)

The UK has publicly supported the need for improved protection of Atlantic bluefin tune. The UK and other EU member states are currently considering the positive outcomes of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) annual meeting in November 2009. We are looking to see whether the measures agreed at the meeting provide sufficient reassurance that the regional fisheries management organisation can, and will, take the necessary steps to turn around the dramatic decline in the species population. Consequently, we have not yet ruled out the need for a convention on international trade in endangered species (CITES) Appendix I listing, and it certainly remains an option under consideration in the run up to the CITES Conference of Parties meeting in March this year.