Florida Offshore Fishing Reports - International Ban on Bluefin Tuna.... - http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/04/world/europe/04tuna.html PARIS — European officials are increasing pressure for an international ban on the commercial fishing of bluefin tuna, a

BlueOceanEyez · Site Admin Joined: Mar 07, 2008 Posts: 1635

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/04/world/europe/04tuna.html

PARIS — European officials are increasing pressure for an international ban on the commercial fishing of bluefin tuna, a threatened species whose fatty belly is prized for sushi. But they are facing a delicate balancing act as they try to weigh economic interests of a Mediterranean fishing industry, a sushi-loving Japan, and a species that some experts say is on the verge of extinction.

In the latest move toward protecting the fish, France said Wednesday that it would back a ban starting late next year on international trade in bluefin, which are found in the Atlantic as well as the Mediterranean Sea. About 80 percent of the bluefin catch is exported to Japan.

“The species is in difficulty,” Jean-Louis Borloo, the French ecology minister, told journalists in Paris on Wednesday. A ban, he added, is “the most powerful measure possible.”

Bluefin stocks have plummeted as demand for sushi has risen and powerful industrial fishing boats known as purse seiners have come into use. The stocks are now below 15 percent of their historical level, a team of scientific experts from tuna-fishing nations concluded at a meeting in October in Madrid.

In July, Monaco proposed that bluefin tuna be listed as an “Appendix 1” endangered species under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. Such a listing would provide the same level of protection accorded pandas and some whales, effectively banning international trade in the fish. A panel of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization concluded in December that the species met the criteria for an Appendix 1 listing. Monaco’s proposal will be lodged officially when the 175 nations that are parties to the treaty meet next month in Doha, Qatar.

Because most of the European Union, including Italy, has already lined up behind Monaco, France’s support should help bring the 27-nation body in line for a unified position in Doha. Spain, which currently holds the union’s presidency and is widely thought to oppose a ban, would have to present the union’s position. The incoming European Commission — the bloc’s executive arm — is expected to take up the issue as early as next week.

The French government’s stance had been in doubt. France, along with the European Union, had initially applauded Monaco’s proposal, but it later joined several other tuna-fishing nations, including Italy and Spain, in objecting.

President Nicolas Sarkozy has had to balance public support for a bluefin trade ban, as well as a public appeal from Prince Albert of Monaco, with the danger that angry fishermen might seek to embarrass his center-right party by blockading French ports before March regional elections.

France’s backing for a ban comes with strings attached. Mr. Borloo and Bruno Le Maire, the French agriculture and fisheries minister, said support was conditional upon an 18-month delay in implementation, which they said was to obtain additional scientific data. The delay would allow two more fishing seasons to pass.

They also said a ban should not affect sales of bluefin tuna caught by line and pole or by longline within Europe. Like Italy, France will also seek financial aid from the European Union to help the fishing industry.

Sergi Tudela, head of the World Wildlife Fund’s Mediterranean fisheries program, said: “We’re disappointed with the delay. They’re saying that they need time to gather more scientific data, but there’s more than enough information on the table already. We’re asking them to drop that condition.”

Still, the move is “positive,” he said. “France has understood that an Appendix 1 listing is the only way to save this fishery.”

The fishing industry was quick to voice its disapproval.

Mourad Kahoul, president of an association representing industrial fishing fleets in France, Italy and Spain, said that his group “is doing everything it can to change the government’s mind on this,” and that there were differing scientific views on the outlook for the fish.

“What is not about to disappear are the boats, which cost 3 million euros a few years ago and which they now want us to scrap,” he said. “Well, why did they let us build them in the first place?”

The United States fishing industry is “strongly opposed” to listing the fish under the endangered species convention, said Rich Ruais, executive director of the American Bluefin Tuna Association, who said the trade ban “would create a huge black market.”

“In fact,” he said, “we believe a listing has the possibility of doing more damage than good.”

Japan has not yet made its own position official, though it is widely expected to fight the proposal, as was the case in 1992 when Sweden sought to have the bluefin listed. The United States initially said it supported Monaco, but it has not made clear its position.

BlueOceanEyez · Site Admin Joined: Mar 07, 2008 Posts: 1635

Associated Press--->

GENEVA – The world should ban the export of Atlantic bluefin tuna, a U.N. panel declared Friday, backing a proposal that is fiercely opposed by Japan, which prizes the fish as a key ingredient in sushi.

Atlantic bluefin populations have declined more than 80 percent since the 19th century, so establishing special protections is justified by science, said CITES, the U.N. group that oversees the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.

"We are recommending that the parties accept the proposal," CITES scientific chief David Morgan told reporters in Geneva.

The tiny European principality of Monaco is asking the 175 nations that are members of CITES to agree on a global ban on Atlantic bluefin exports at a meeting in Qatar's capital of Doha from March 13-25. The plan is one of 42 conservation proposals CITES members will consider, along with similar trade bans on products from polar bears, some sharks and other species.

The meeting will also decide whether to restrict or ease the ban on trade in elephant ivory, another hotly contested issue.

But the dispute over tuna — which pits most northern European countries against Japan and several Mediterranean fishing nations — will likely command the biggest attention because it threatens to wipe the iconic fish off the sushi menu.

Turkey, Spain, Greece, Italy and Malta have thousands of jobs that depend on catching and shipping the fish to Japan, while France and Britain have signaled they would favor a ban.

Atlantic bluefin, which can reach 10 feet (3 meters) long and weigh more than 1,430 pounds (650 kilograms), fetch prices reaching 2,000 yen ($20) a slice in high-end Tokyo restaurants. Japan buys 80 percent of the world catch, with Europe, South Korea and the U.S. sharing the rest. In Europe, bluefin sushi is still rather rare, served only at the most exclusive restaurants.

The International Commission on the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna, which groups tuna-fishing nations, already sets quotas on the annual bluefin catch. It has reduced this year's limit to 14,900 tons (13,500 metric tons), down nearly 40 percent from 2009.

Environmentalists, however, say the quotas are widely ignored and are too high anyway.

"An Appendix I listing is now essential," said Steven Broad, head of the international monitoring group, referring to the category used by CITES for species that cannot be traded internationally.

An export ban on Atlantic bluefin wouldn't affect the Pacific bluefin species — even though that is similarly endangered — because there has been no proposal to limit its catch, said Morgan.

The bluefin ban also wouldn't cut sales of yellowfin, skipjack, or tongol tuna, which are commonly found in cans and deli sandwiches.

Atlantic bluefin "is a particular product from a very sought-after species (sold) in relatively small quantities compared with tuna generally," Morgan stressed.

He said the CITES office in Geneva wasn't recommending a similar ban on polar bear products, as proposed by the United States but resisted by Canadian indigenous communities.

CITES members will try to reach decisions by consensus, but if necessary they will hold a vote. Approval by two-thirds of those countries voting for or against is necessary to pass a proposal.

Other proposals up for debate include one by Tanzania and Zambia to permit them to sell government-owned stocks of ivory under a system allowing limited trade in the tusks of endangered elephants. Kenya and other African countries want all ivory sales halted immediately.

Meanwhile Sweden and Palau want to include dogfish, a type of shark commonly sold in British fish and chip shops, in Appendix II of CITES, which would require permits to trade.

CITES said it was aware of the possibility that lobby groups might try to influence countries' votes through round-about forms of bribery.

"We are trying to avoid as much as possible that lobbying groups finance the participation of delegations," said spokesman Juan Carlos Vasquez. "That doesn't exclude any illegality in their practices," he added.

The meeting will also look at ways of better enforcing already existing protection measures, such as the ban on trade in rhinoceros horns. Their use has shot up recently in Asia following unsubstantiated rumors that ground horn can halt the spread of cancer, said the group's chief enforcement officer John Sellar.

EasternTackle · Fin Addict Joined: Oct 27, 2008 Posts: 164


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