21/02/2011 (Agence Europe) - Commission receives information on national fisheries plans for bluefin tuna. Every country has provided information on its national plan for bluefin tuna, the European Commission announced on Friday 18 February. Had this information not been made available, the EU might have been put in the position where it could not authorise any fishing for bluefin tuna this year (see EUROPE 10307). However, all the countries (Spain, France, Italy, Portugal, Malta, Cyprus and Greece) have now submitted their national programmes (number of vessels authorised to fish, control measures in place, etc), in line with the measures in the international recovery plans for bluefin tuna. The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) compliance committee will assess the capacity plans, fisheries plans and inspection plans of the contracting parties (to ICCAT). (L.C./transl.rt)