France to support bluefin tuna trade ban: paper

Workers pull freshly-harvested Bluefin tuna aboard a refrigerated fish transport ship lying off the Calabrian coast in southern Italy November 20, 2009.

PARIS (Reuters) - France will support a ban on global trade in bluefin tuna, but in exchange wants to be granted an exclusive fishing zone for line-caught tuna as well as aid to retrain laid-off fishermen, a newspaper said on Monday.

Le Monde said on its website the government would announce its decision within the next fortnight, with the ruling UMP party trying to strike a balance between environmental and economic concerns before regional elections in March.

Monaco has proposed protecting bluefin tuna, much beloved by sushi fans in Japan and around the world, by listing it under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

The European Union has come close to supporting that move, but fishing nations Spain, Italy, France, Cyprus, Greece and Malta last September voiced their opposition.

France's policy change could be decisive at the next CITES meeting in Qatar in March, after Italy already said last week it would back a ban.

For a feature on French fishermen and the sushi bonanza, double click on [ID:nLDE60I0X0].

(Reporting by Sophie Hardach; Editing by Charles Dick)