DOHA, Qatar - March 18 - Greenpeace condemns the failure of governments at the CITES (Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species) meeting for their lack of agreement on any measures to protect endangered Atlantic bluefin tuna.

Speaking from the meeting, Greenpeace International oceans campaigner Oliver Knowles said:

"The abject failure of governments here at CITES to protect Atlantic bluefin tuna spells disaster for its future and sets the species on a pathway to extinction.'

"The failure of countries to support proper protection for Atlantic bluefin tuna means business as usual for those whose only interest in the species is short -term profit.

"It leaves the future of the species in the hands of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, the very organization responsible for the dire state of bluefin tuna stocks today.

"By pushing for a few more years of this luxury product Japan has put the future of bluefin, and the future of its own supply at serious risk."

In the U.S., Greenpeace oceans campaigner Phil Kline commented:

"Greenpeace applauds the U.S. government for it's full support of the Appendix 1 listing for Northern bluefin tuna. However, this decision at CITES is an urgent call for the United States to step up and fully protect the population of bluefin that spawn in American waters by closing the bluefin spawning areas in the Gulf of Mexico during that season."