With quotas nearly full, the EU executive said that bluefin tuna fishing in the Mediterranean and eastern Atlantic needed to be halted early to protect the increasingly popular species.

The move targets fishing by purse seiners, boats that draw nets around whole schools of fish before drawing them in. They account for 70 percent of all bluefin tuna hauls.

Under the decision, the boats from Greece, France, Italy, Cyprus and Malta will be banned from fishing bluefin tuna from June 16, while purse seiners from Spain will not be able to cast their nets from June 23.

The season would usually have run to the end of June, when the fleet normally hauls in 90 percent of its catches, taking in as much as 550 tonnes of tuna per day.

Unlike the industrial fleets, small tuna fishing boats, which are mostly active in the eastern Atlantic will be able to keep filling their quotas until the end of their season, which closes at the end of November.

"The closure of the purse seine fishery is necessary to protect this fragile resource, and ensure the recovery of the stock," the commission said in a statement.

The commission's decision sparked swift and sharp criticism from Italy, France and Spain.

Italian Agriculture Minister Luca Zaia said the move dealt an unjustified blow to a sector already struggling to cope with record fuel prices.

"I don't agree with this decision because it is unjustified and because it fails to take full account of the economic and social impact it will have on a sector that is already in crisis," Zaia wrote to EU Fisheries Commissioner Joe Borg.

In Paris, Fisheries Minister Michel Barnier slammed the decision and called for an urgent meeting of EU fisheries experts.

Barnier deplored "this decision, made without having taken account of technical factors and catch figures," a statement from his ministry said.

It said he had contacted Borg to call for "the urgent organisation" of a meeting of experts from the EU executive commission.

The committee will be able to "provide useful data on bluefin tuna catches by purse seiners in the countries concerned," the statement said.

The government of Spain, home to Europe's largest fishing fleet, also protested, saying that it "rejects as disproportionate the decision by the European Commission."

As the bluefin tuna fishing reaches the peak of the season this month, the commission has been keeping a close eye on the industry after overfishing in 2007 also led to the early closure of the season.

The commission said an early closure was all the more necessary this year because the purse seiner fleet had grown substantially since 2007 despite tougher international quotas and EU funds available for reducing fleets.

"The commission is determined to use all necessary means to prevent a recurrence of the substantial overfishing seen in 2007," it said.

Environmentalists have warned that tuna could face extinction if fishing continues at current rates to feed a worldwide fad for Japanese food such as sushi.

But tuna fishing is an increasingly lucrative industry, particularly for developing economies that export to Japan, which consumes a quarter of the world's tuna.

The World Wildlife Fund welcomed the early closure of the season, although it was critical of the commission's decision to give an extra week to Spain

"WWF believes this out-of-control fishery should never have been allowed to open this year at all," said Aaron McLoughlin, association's fishing expert in Europe.

"Overfishing and massive illegal catches threaten the survival of bluefin tuna," he added. "Fishing should be banned indefinitely at least during June, the key spawning month for Mediterranean bluefin tuna."

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