30/08/2006 (Agence Europe) - At the end of its three-month campaign in the Mediterranean, Greenpeace issued an appeal on 30 August for the "immediate closure of the bluefin tuna fishery" and the adoption of "urgent measures" for stock reconstitution. According to the environmental protection organisation, the stock of bluefin tuna in the Mediterranean is "on the point of collapse, due to illegal fishing and disastrous management". Greenpeace states that in 2005, tuna catches exceeded the authorised quota by 56% (32,000 t). Illegal fishing is "closely linked to the excessive capacity of bluefin tuna farms" in 11 Mediterranean countries, explains Greenpeace, whose ship has been denied access to the port of Carthagena (south-east Spain), having been thwarted in Marseilles (EUROPE 9251).