(BRUSSELS) - The industrial bluefin tuna fishing season in Europe has closed early, a spokeswoman for the European Commission said Monday after a meeting with angry French and Italian fishermen.

"Tuna fishing in the Mediterranean and eastern Atlantic is closed simply because the commission had enough facts and figures," said Nathalie Charbonneau, spokeswoman for EU Fisheries Commissioner Joe Borg.

On June 13, the commission called an early halt to industrial fishing of bluefin tuna at the peak of the season over fears quotas were being filled too quickly.

The move triggered a wave of fierce criticism from Europe's leading tuna fishing nations France, Italy and Spain, which accused the commission of using faulty figures and demanded the decision be dropped.

Dismissing their accusations, the commission hit back last week arguing that its critics were failing to keep track of catches, running the risk of overfishing.

"It's instant death" for fishermen, fumed Mourad Kahoul, president of the tuna fishing union in the Mediterranean, after the meeting at the commission in Brussels.

"They have no viable scientific data, they only have guesses," Kahoul said. "They're killing families with guesses, we're dealing with Bolsheviks, it's worse than the 1940s."

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

The early closure will mean the commission facing fresh friction with France, Italy and Spain at a meeting in Luxembourg with EU fisheries ministers on Tuesday focusing on soaring fuel prices which have sparked waves of protests from trawlermen.

In theory, the ministers could overturn the commission's decision if a qualified majority is reached, which is unlikely to happen.

French Agriculture and Fisheries Minister Michel Barnier for one said in Luxembourg that he would not seek to overturn the commission's decision.

"I'm not of a state mind to take on the commission and launch a guerrilla war," Barnier said.

"What I'm interested in is that the commission clearly explains why it has decided what it's done. There's currently several of us fisheries ministers who don't understand the commission's unilateral decision," he added.

The commission's decision to close the tuna season early inflamed tensions with the fishing industry all the more because fishermen have been leading waves of protests against high fuel prices.

Chronically overfished, Mediterranean tuna are the victims of their success with fish lovers, especially with the growing demand for sushi. About 70 percent of the Mediterranean catch goes to Japan and prices keep rising.

"Without any fish there won't be any fishermen," said commission spokesman Johannes Laitenberger.

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