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solonavi 24 March 2010 Campaign, General 389 views No Comment Print This Post  Email This Post

BBC

A proposal to ban international trade in Atlantic bluefin tuna, which is a sushi mainstay in Japan, has been rejected by a UN wildlife meeting.

Thursday’s decision occurred after Japan, Canada and many poor nations opposed the measure on the grounds it would devastate fishing economies.

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Scientists and campaigners working with conservation organisations were disappointed with the outcome.:

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The US, which supported and lobbied for the ban, also described the outcome as “disappointing”.

“Today’s vote was a setback for the Atlantic bluefin tuna,” said Tom Strickland, head of the nation’s CITES delegation.

“But we will keep fighting to ensure that the fishery is managed sustainably, so that future generations may see it return to health.”

US officials said they would be pressing governments to live up to promises to control fishing through Iccat.

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Japan – the principal bluefin-consuming nation – had made its opposition to the proposal clear before the CITES meeting started.

It argues that commercial fisheries should be managed through bodies such as Iccat.

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The vote on the original motion then went down by 68 votes to 20.

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Sue Lieberman, director of international policy with the Pew Environment Group, suggested lobbying from the fishing industry was ultimately responsible for the defeat.

“This meeting presented a golden opportunity for governments to take a stand against overfishing, and too many governments failed to do so,” she said.

“The market for this fish is just too lucrative, and the pressure from fishing interests too great, for enough governments to support a truly sustainable future for the fish.”

CITES votes can be reviewed on the meeting’s final day, but the substantial margin of defeat suggests this one will not be.

Earlier in the day, a US-sponsored motion seeking to ban international trade in products made from polar bears was also defeated.

Opponents argued that the species’ main threat was not trade, but climate change. Some conservation groups – including Traffic – did not support the proposal, therefore.

There were also concerns that banning the trade might hurt indigenous peoples around the Arctic who sometimes hunt the bears for meat.