Last chance for bluefin tuna, too late for real conservation

Last chance for bluefin tuna, too late for real conservation
05 March 2010
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Captive bluefin tuna inside a transport cage.
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Captive bluefin tuna inside a transport cage.
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International — So the world is finally waking up to the fact that the Atlantic bluefin tuna is in crisis. That's nice. But decades of overfishing have pushed this majestic fish to the brink of extinction, which is not the point at which we should start thinking about conservation. The situation is so extreme that an international trade ban is now its only hope of survival.
This week the US did the right thing. Following the example of Monaco, the UK, the Netherlands and Sweden, amongst others, it agreed to support a proposal to list Atlantic bluefin on Appendix I of the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), meeting March 13-25 in Doha, Qatar. Appendix I is where the most endangered species are collected, in practical terms it would mean no more trade in bluefin until stocks recover.

It is the last chance for bluefin. These majestic creatures which can accelerate faster than a Porsche, and swim at speeds of up to 60 mph – are in serious trouble.

In 1999, we showed how in the Mediterranean bluefin tuna stocks had collapsed by by 80 percent. Ten years later, scientists found that the population of Atlantic bluefin tuna is below 15 percent of what it was before commercial fishing began.

This sorry state of affairs is a combination of ever-growing demand for bluefin on international markets and atrocious management of the species. The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), the management body responsible for Atlantic bluefin, has repeatedly ignored the advice of its own scientists and failed to tackle overfishing and pirate fishing of the species. ICCAT is widely recognized as an incompetent authority, and has been deemed an 'international disgrace' by an independent review.

Is this the best that modern fisheries management can deliver? Agreement to act on protecting a species only when it faces extinction?To have abused a species so badly that it now faces commercial exctinction is a daming indictement on modern fisheries management.

It’s a message that many have already heard. Top Michelin starred French chefs have taken bluefin off the menu. Joanna Lumley, Ted Danson, Alan Rickman and among many famous names that recognise bluefin is now as endangered as rhinos are - and deserves the same protection.

Many fishing nations, however, are being slower on the uptake.

CITES – likely to be a bloody affair

As the CITES meeting draws closer, the stage is being set for a serious showdown. A ban would need to see two-thirds of the approximately 175 governments that are party to CITES, vote in favour.

The US may be onside, but there are plenty of others whose short-sighted thinking threatens to push bluefin over the edge.

Japan is the world’s largest importer of bluefin - a single fish can fetch up to US$100,000 on its markets – it is vehemently opposed to the ban and is loudly threatening to do everything it can to stop the ban.

Both Canada and China have also gone on record as saying they will vote against a ban. Others such as Australia, New Zealand, and Brazil remain on the fence.

Meanwhile, continued in-fighting within the European Union is threatening to leave it with no position at all. This would spell disaster for the bluefin.

EU infighting threatening its support of the ban

EU countries take over 50 percent of the bluefin catch, and are responsible for most pirate fishing.