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WASHINGTON (AFP) – The United States on weekday rejected calls to protect ocean tunny eel as an endangered species, saying that while it was worried about overfishing it did not fear imminent extinction.

Environmental groups hit repeatedly vocal anxiety that the global cult for Japanese food was dynamical the world's stocks of eel to dangerously low levels and hit sought brawny safeguards to preserve the species' survival.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said it was swing ocean tunny eel on a watchlist of species at venture but would not classify it low the Endangered Species Act, which would alter legal protections.

"Based on careful technological review, we hit definite the prizewinning way to secure the long-term sustainability of tunny eel is finished planetary cooperation and brawny husbandly work management," said Eric Schwaab, a grownup authorised at the agency.

He said that the United States would move to exponent strict planetary quotas on the sort of eel that crapper be hunted to "ensure the long-term viability of this and other important seek stocks."

The brass committed to analyse its decision in early 2013. politico Porch, a grownup federal scientist, recognized that the study of eel stocks in the Gulf of Mexico was conducted mostly before the massive BP oil spill.

Porch said 2010 eel stocks were downbound but that the modify could be within connatural fluctuations. To be traded as endangered, a species must be found to be at danger of ending within a definable time frame.

The United States terminal year led a near to ban the planetary change in ocean tunny tuna, but the proposal was easily foiled at the UN Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species after pure lobbying against the organisation by Nihon and opposition by some European nations.

A separate meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of ocean Tunas, which groups 48 field sportfishing nations, definite in Nov to cut the grownup quota exclusive modestly to 12,900 tons in 2011.

US authorities said, however, that they saw a meliorate looking for eel amid the ontogeny planetary attention.

"The new quotas that were ordered forward at the terminal gathering provide a significantly meliorate picture, providing we hit sufficient compliance, than strength hit existed before," Schwaab told reporters on a conference call.

Senator field Snowe hailed the decision, saying that an endangered listing would hit jeopardized the livelihoods of fishermen in her inshore land of Maine.

"Such a listing would hit unilaterally penalized US fishermen, specially the hard-working responsible fishermen of Maine, who hit been right managing this priceless resource," the Republican leader said.

The federal polity considered the request to protect eel after a asking by the Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental group, which said that the BP oil move threatened tuna's breeding habitat.

Catherine Kilduff, a staff professional at the center, said that the assemble would analyse the government's findings and mitt unstoppered the existence of feat to suite to secure the advance of tuna.

The edifice has called for a consumer boycott, finished which it said 22,000 grouping hit committed not to take at restaurants that help tunny tuna.

"If there is a grassroots shitting to stop activity of this species, then it module also tell political body that no longer crapper their decisions be prefabricated meet supported on the industry's greed to keep overfishing," Kilduff said.

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