Britain's major seafood supplier Young's Bluecrest stressed this week that it had for some time had a policy with regard to bluefin tuna of "not touching it with a bargepole."

Young's spoke out in response to a WWF report that warned that the Mediterranean and eastern Atlantic tuna fisheries were on the brink of collapse, and that bluefin tuna was in danger of becoming extinct.

A spokesman for Young's said: "Both the fisheries have been on the endangered list for some time. We would be very surprised if bluefin tuna were present in any British multiple."

Fresh tuna in British supermarkets is predominantly yellowfin, while canned is skipjack.

Meanwhile, Sainsbury said that it did not expect its supplies of canned and bottled anchovy to be affected by Brussels' decision again to close the Bay of Biscay fishery. It said it already had a policy of not sourcing stocks there while the fish were replenishing.

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