(MARRAKECH) - Morocco on Monday called for stronger action against illegal fishing at the opening of international negotiations here aimed at saving Atlantic and Mediterranean bluefin tuna.

Moroccan Agriculture Minister Aziz Akhannouch warned at the meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) that the "situation is worrisome."

"The condition for success... rests on our willingness to show more firmness in terms of respect of conservation measures for these migrant species and the fight against all types of illegal fishing," Akhannouch said.

He called for the "preservation of the fundamental balance of marine ecosystems and assurance of greater rationality in their management."

The 46-nation ICCAT, meeting until November 24, will try to hammer out a new plan that protects the overfished species without throttling the multi-million dollar industry built around it.

Measures on the table range from tighter quotas and enforcement to an outright moratorium.

Driven by skyrocketing prices -- especially in Japan, which consumes more than 80 percent of tuna caught in the Mediterranean Sea -- bluefin tuna populations have crashed over the last decade.

Quotas put in place to stem the decline are not nearly stringent enough, according to many experts.

Others say current fishing limits would be adequate if they were respected: last year the total catch in the Mediterranean was 61,000 tonnes, more than twice the authorized limit of 29,500 tonnes, according to ICCAT statistics.

The body's own scientific committee has recommended an annual limit of 15,000 tonnes.

Environmental groups and certain countries favour a moratorium, a proposal rejected by those in the industry.

On Monday, Greenpeace dumped five tonnes of bluefin tuna heads in front of the agricultural and fisheries ministry in France, which currently holds the EU's rotating presidency, to call for a ban.

In justifying the organisation's call for a moratorium, Greenpeace official Francois Provost said ICCAT countries "don't have the means to enforce the recommendations" on reduced quotas.

"We have far too many boats," he said.

The European Association of Mediterranean Tuna Fishermen, which groups some 2,500 members in France, Italy and Malta, has called for better enforcement of regulations rather than an outright moratorium.

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