Battle for Bluefin Looms as Ban Fails
Indymedia UK - 20 Mar 2010
The United Nations wildlife conference in Qatar this week, where delegates from 175 countries gathered to make decisions on the protection of recently endangered species has pulled grey clouds over the world of conservation. The CITES meeting failed to add the threatened Atlantic bluefin tuna to the Appendix I listing of the CITES legislation, which would have resulted in a ban on the international trade of the fish. In the last century over 15% of the bluefin tuna population has disappeared as a result of industrial overfishing. If this incredible creature, which is also referred to as the tiger of the oceans, is not protected by some kind of international measure soon, it will soon be no more.The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society has announced it will take aggressive action against tuna poachers in Southern Europe this summer. Their ship, the Steve Irwin, which recently returned from the anti-whaling campaign in Antarctica, is currently under way to Europe, where actions will start in May. Last year Greenpeace took action against tuna fishermen in Malta. The fishermen responded aggressively when activists attempted to board their ships. Conservation group Oceana which has been monitoring illegal fishing practices in the Mediterranean for the last few years might also return this summer.On the newswire: Paul Watson announces aggressive campaign to clear Mediterranean of illegal fisheries | We Need to Stop Eating the Oceans | Top of the Food ChainLinks: Sea Shepherd Conservation Society | Oceana | Indymedia Ocean Defence page