(VENICE) - Seven European Union countries called on Tuesday for an increase in EU financial support for the fishing industry, currently reeling from soaring fuel prices.

"According to data from the European Commission, the price of diesel bought by EU fishermen has increased 240 percent since 2004," fisheries ministers and officials from Italy, France, Greece, Malta, Portugal and Spain said in a statement after an informal meeting here.

Slovenia likewise backed the text but did not sign the statement in light of its current presidency of the European Union.

The seven states called for "an increase in financial resources made available to the European Fisheries Fund," which at the moment amount to about 500 million euros (774 million dollars) a year.

"The resources available are not adapted to the gravity of the current crisis and the demands of the sector," said the statement, which is to be presented to an EU meeting of fisheries ministers in Luxembourg at the end of June.

The seven countries are also seeking money from the Fund to support efforts by EU member states to meet the social needs of the fishing sector. They in addition asked for authorisation to apply measures to stabilise diesel prices, notably in the reduction of fuel taxes for the fishing industry.

"We're talking about a very important human and economic sector," French Fisheries Minister Michel Barnier said after the session.

"We want to have a constructive and demanding dialogue with the European Commission (the EU executive arm). I think it is very important that the seven countries that are here have chosen to work together to brighten the prospects for the European fishing sector."

On Friday the commission closed the fishing season for bluefin tuna in the Mediterranean Sea and eastern Atlantique early to protect stocks.

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