"The Australian who heads fishery management in the Western and Central Pacific has warned an international agreement is urgently needed to avert disaster for the tuna industry.

Professor Glenn Hurry said bluefin and bigeye tuna should no longer be harvested, as stocks were dangerously depleted.

He also warned 'serious action' needed to be taken to reduce the yellowfin tuna catch.

'Yellowfin tuna's down to about 38 per cent of its original spawning biomass,' said Professor Hurry, the outgoing executive director of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC)."

Dominique Schwartz and Greg Wilesmith report for Australian ABC September 2, 2014. [2]