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An international group has set the limit for next year's catch of bluefin tuna in the eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea. The limit is just under 13,000 metric tons. That is 600 tons less than this year's quota, a reduction of 4%.

Conservation groups criticized the move, saying the cut is not big enough to support the recovery of bluefin tuna in the Mediterranean.

The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas set the catch late last month in Paris. Delegates to the commission represent the governments of 48 fishing nations.

In 2006, the commission established a plan to stop overfishing. The goal is to rebuild bluefin populations in the eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean by 2022.

The European Commission had called for reducing next year's catch to 6,000 tons to improve the chances for the huge and highly valuable fish. But Mediterranean members of the European Union rejected that proposal even before the 10-day meeting began.

Still, EU Fisheries Commissioner Maria Damanaki said the meeting took "a step in the right direction for sustainable management" of bluefin tuna.

The fishing industry wanted to keep the existing catch limit.