Brussels, 26/11/2004 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday, the European Commission welcomed the conservation measures agreed at the 2004 ICCAT (International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna) Annual Meeting, held in New Orleans (USA) on 15-21 November. A number of these measures had been recommended by the European Union, in particular those relating to blue-fin tuna. This stock, of crucial importance to EU fisheries in the Mediterranean, is subject to a four- year management plan (2002-2006) but the EU considered that complementary measures were needed to reduce catches of under-sized fish and introduce additional requirements in relation to tuna fattening sites. Thus, the minimum landing size will go from 6.4 to 10 kg in the Mediterranean and the 15% tolerance margin for landed undersized fish will be eliminated. A joint EU/Japan proposal on a multi-annual (2005-2008) management plan for the big eye tropical tuna stock was also adopted by the ICCAT (whose members include the EU, the US, Canada, Brazil, China, Japan, South Korea, the Ivory Coast and Iceland). Commissioner Joe Borg's department regretted that there was no agreement on a proposal to regulate transhipment of catch at sea to curb illegal activities. Two other key measures - both EU proposals - were adopted, first, on regulating recreational fisheries (based on the Commission proposal for technical measures in the Mediterranean) and second, on the regulation of shark fining.