I am sure that most of you have already heard the disappointing news regarding the rejection of the proposal to ban the export of Atlantic Bluefin Tuna, but I thought I should write a quick post about it for anyone who is still in the dark.
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES)is an international agreement between governments. Its aim is to ensure that international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival (http://www.cites.org/eng/disc/what.shtml).
On March 18th 2010, CITES rejected the proposal to protect Bluefin tuna. Japan, who imports 80% of the tuna played a big part in the rejection of the proposal. Many of the poorer fishing nations followed in Japan's shadow claiming that the ban would devastate their economies.
Japan and some of the other fishing nations also claim that CITES should not play a role in regulating marine species. This notion entrenches the idea that marine species are not animals and that they do not deserve the same protection as land animals. However, the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICATT) who is supposed to be in charge of regulating tuna has let the tuna down time and time again. The most recent let down came in November when ICCAT reduced quotas from 19,500 to 13,500when the ICCAT scientist recommended placing a ban on Bluefin Tuna fisheries. (see previous post regarding ICCAT November decision).
This seems like the last nail in the coffin for Bluefin Tuna. Certain governments have been blinded by short term profit and have failed to take into account the science that has been provided or the long term effects of such aggressive fishing practices. All of this has put Bluefin Tuna on the path to extinction, and it seems as though it will come much sooner than we thought.
Click here for a GreenPeace article regarding CITES decision.
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