Ocean Sentry
The rejection to prohibit the trade of Bluefin tuna in the Atlantic has been the onset to the extinction of this sea predator. Since we at Ocean Sentry are convinced that their current population, that has suffered an 80% drop due to unregulated fishing, is unable to bear any kind of quota, however large it may be. The population is finding itself at the absolute verge of extinction.
The proposal submitted by Monaco, didn’t achieve two thirds of the majority which is required in order to be approved. Because of this, the 175 countries which met at the Convention on International trade in Endangered Species (CITES), in Doha and Qatar, haven’t managed to protect this hunted species from the unsustainable trade which takes advantage of the multimillions in benefits at the expense of the irreversible drop in the marine’s ecosystem.
Despite the fact that the secretary of CITES demonstrated at the convention that the Atlantic Bluefin tuna adhered to all the requirements to be listed in appendix I, the final decision has been followed by the trading of this decimate species under the corrupt regulations of ICCAT (International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas), which is dominated by pressuring groups and governments without concern like Spain and Japan.
It’s a cruel challenge that we’re not coming out well from. The extinction of a predator like Bluefin tuna could mean an unprecedented collapse in the seas food chain.
For Ocean Sentry, this decision is a complete international failure and above all unacceptable. We should be ashamed of ourselves that in the the 21st century, the human race insists in deliberately killing a species for a handful of coins in order to satisfy the greed of some people.
The pressure of the fishing industry continues to demonstrate systematic destruction of the habitat that it depends on and the worrying ignorance that means its continuous annihilation of the seas species.
Mar. 23rd, 2010
by Ocean Sentry
Campaign for the Bluefin Tuna
