The problem is particularly acute around Spain's Balearic Islands, where catches of bluefin are down to only 15 percent of levels a decade ago, the group said.

In 1995 some 14,699 tonnes were caught there, mainly by French and Spanish fleets - while just 2,270 tonnes have been fished in the same waters this year.

Mediterranean bluefin tuna farms have also experienced substantial decline. From this year's catches of wild Mediterranean tuna, some 22,520 tonnes have been put in captivity and farmed, a 25 percent reduction on last year.

Six Spanish tuna ranches have already ceased operating altogether "because there were simply no more tuna".

The WWF prepared its findings for a European Parliament Fisheries Committee special hearing on the bluefin tuna crisis Tuesday.

Fishermen from the traditional tuna trappers' association in Spain, OPP51, joined the WWF in its call for immediate EU action.

"We fear for our jobs", said OPP51 Director General Marta Crespo M�rquez. "The EU has still not reacted to repeated warnings from scientists and we are looking to our elected representatives to take their responsibilities seriously".

The findings support WWF's alarm call earlier this year that huge illegal activity is plundering the last remaining bluefin tuna and "provide even more indication that collapse of the species may soon follow," WWF warned.

The group urged the European Commission to support a strict recovery plan including the closure of industrial fishing during the spawning season, improved monitoring of fishing and farming activity, compulsory observers on board all tuna vessels and in tuna farms and the setting of a scientifically-based minimum catch size.

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