"No lifeline for species on brink"

Aillas · Sun Mar 21, 2010 3:24 am

DOHA, Qatar–A U.S.-backed proposal to ban the export of the Atlantic bluefin tuna prized for sushi was rejected Thursday by a United Nations wildlife meeting, with scores of developing nations joining Japan and Canada in opposing a measure they feared would devastate fishing economies.

It was a stunning setback for conservationists who had hoped the 175-nation Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, or CITES, would give the iconic fish a lifeline. They joined Monaco, the proposal's sponsor, in arguing extreme measures were necessary because the fish's stocks have fallen by 75 per cent due to widespread overfishing.

As the debate opened, Monaco painted a dire picture for a once-abundant species that roams across vast stretched of the Atlantic Ocean and can weigh up to 680 kilograms.

It has been done in by the growing demand for raw tuna for traditional dishes such as sushi and sashimi. The bluefin variety – called "hon-maguro" in Japan – is particularly prized; a 200-kilogram Pacific bluefin tuna fetched a record $226,000 (Canadian) last year.

"This exploitation is no longer exploitation by traditional fishing people to meet regional needs," Monaco's Patrick Van Klaveren told delegates. "Industrial fishing of species is having a severe effect on numbers of this species and its capacity to recover. We are facing a real ecosystem collapse."

But it became clear the proposal had little support. Only the United States, Norway and Kenya supported it outright.

The tuna defeat came hours after delegates rejected a U.S. proposal to ban the international sale of polar bear skins and parts, suggesting economic interests at this meeting were trumping conservation.

The Americans argued that the sale of polar bears skins is compounding the loss of the animals' sea ice habitat due to climate change. There are projections the bear's numbers, which are estimated at 20,000 to 25,000, could decline by two-thirds due by 2050 due to habitat loss in the Arctic.

But Canada, Greenland and several indigenous communities argued the trade had little impact on the white bears' population and would adversely affect their economies.

Meanwhile, a leading conservation group said Thursday relentless consumer appetite for caviar is pushing sturgeon, such as the highly prized beluga, to the brink of extinction.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature said it assessed 18 types of sturgeon for its latest Red List of endangered species, and found all of them threatened. A complete ban on fishing for sturgeon in the Caspian Sea and elsewhere may be the only way to save the ancient species, the group said.

Ellen Pikitch, executive director of the Institute for Ocean Conservation Science at Stony Brook, said the UN-sponsored conservation body CITES should now consider imposing a total ban on trade in sturgeon products when it next meets in two or three years.

Such a ban would need to last several decades to allow sturgeon stocks to recover, she said.

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/artic ... s-on-brink

"No lifeline for species on brink"

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