Endangered bluefin tuna plight

How bureaucrats decided not to save the bluefin tuna

The latest two-week long meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) saw bureaucrats sweep aside expert advice on how to save the bluefin tuna.

Please take the time to read the Link bellow.

I personally have been fighting for the Bluefin's survival for the past several years, with all of the governments concerned corruption is the biggest problem, with an industry value such as this it dosen't take a rocket scientist to figure it out. As for ICCAT its a total disgrace and should be renamed as "I Cant Conserve Atlantic Tuna", but the biggest toss#rs are Japan with no respect for anything but themselves, this is where everyones anger should be vented!! Trade sanctions are the only way to get them to abide by the rules, but no government has the ba#ls to do anything about it as they are all just as corrupt as each other!!
The other major problem is the super corrupt EU the modern dictatorship, full of evil lying thiefs who want nothing more than to better themselves, they should be ashamed. Bluefin tuna is a finite resource cos when its gone, ITS GONE!!!!!!!

The Bluefin Tuna is being forced into extinction because of Japans greed for its flesh, the species is on the verge of collapse while other nations especially those surrounding the Mediterranean fight over the last few fish in a race to catch as much as possible to feed the Japanese market.

In the recent failure at the CITES meeting in Dohar it was obvious that Japan had been busy lobbying other poorer Nations in order to get their vote (Japan is notorious for buying votes )

The fish Markets in Japan appear void of other types of fish, but they are full of immature Bluefin while also apparent is the lack of large fish.

If there was no demand then this species would be able to repopulate the Oceans, but while Japans hunger rages on and the corrupt supplying Nations are happy to cash in on the last few fish no hope is in sight, while ICCAT (International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas) the organization responsible for protection/quotas seem oblivious to everything and I think it is fair to say that ICCAT officials are all financially blinkered by both Japan and the supper corrupt mafia run Med Tuna Barons, you may laugh and say Mafia?? Yeah right ! but with a single fish recently selling for £110,000 weighing just 513lb it doesn’t take a mathematician to figure out that that’s just over £214 for 1Lb of fish, and given the size of the tuna fleet which on the European side has been massively funded by the EU (straight out of your pocket coincidentally for those who live in countries who are members) and one net from a modern tuna boat being able to catch 3000ton  on each wet of the net which equates to 3000 ton = 6,613,876Lb, so if you are lucky to catch a shoal of tuna this this big it could be worth in excess of £1,415,369,464  per trawl not bad for a afternoons work, so know you can see why all those involved in the Bluefin Tuna industry are all so corrupt !!!

 If we all just sit back and engorge this issue we are all to blame, do something about it, in real terms if we leave these issues up to the politicians and bureaucrats what state will we be in 10 years? (you only have to look at the global economy to find out where we are going)

with the Bluefin being one of the Oceans top predators, what will happen after its demise? and what species will the Japanese decide to eradicate next? (apart from the whales)

As the World’s population increases on a unprecedented scale how will we be able to sustain ourselves in the not to distant future?

this plight might be insignificant to many, but it is the tip of an iceberg, ignorance is no excuse in the eye of nature. Should we continue to plunder such species and natural resources both in our seas it will soon become apparent that our greed (or in the case of Japan's Selfishness & Lust) will be our demise.

Bellow is an extract from ‘Japan Today’

“Japan, which imports 80% of Atlantic bluefin and has led the opposition to the ban, argued on Wednesday that CITES should have no role in regulating tuna and other marine species. It said that it is willing to accept lower quotas for bluefin tuna but wants those to come from the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, or ICCAT, which currently regulates the trade.
 
Masanori Miyahara, chief counselor of the Fisheries Agency of Japan, told The Associated Press that CITES was “unfair and partial” and that a tuna ban would allow the Europeans and Americans to continue fishing tuna domestically while Japan suffers from a steep drop in exports.”

The above extract just gives you an idea of the mentality that the Japanese has towards marine conservation as a whole, one minute it states it imports 80% of the worlds Bluefin, while on the other hand condemning CITES as it would allow the Europeans and Americans to continue fishing for Bluefin, but hold on, the only reason the tuna fleets fish for Bluefin is because the Japanese buy them at such a high price?

So with the failure of the Global Ban at the CITES, what next?

ICCAT are a complete waste of time and are all complete fools as they continue to dismiss their own scientists finding probably due to blatantly obvious corruption of all concerned.

European Commission, what a waste of time and money, responsible for plowing millions of Euro’s into the tuna fleet .

Between 2000 and 2008 a total of €34.5 million (£31.4 million) was given by the EU to support the fishing fleets

Over the eight-year period, €23 million was given to fund the construction of new boats, including ultra-modern purse seiners that are able to land 100 tonnes in one haul. A further €10.5 million was given to modernise existing vessels, increasing their ability to track down and catch the tuna. Only €1 million was used to decommission vessels, but mainly for small-scale, local boats.

Overcapacity has been a problem in the world’s fishing fleet, with too many boats chasing too few fish. According to the European Commission, EU vessels are able to catch almost 21,900 tonnes of tuna a year, approaching twice the EU’s 2009 quota of 12,400 tonnes.

 So is the Sea Shepherd going to wreak havoc in the Med this season? With all the publicity that surrounds both Sea Shepherd and its flagship the ‘Steve Irwin’ let’s hope so as it may be our last chance to save this magnificent species.

The Tuna Matanza has been used to catch Bluefin for over a 1000 years, this way of catching tuna has barely changed, but the size of tuna has, with only small juvenile fish being caught if any, the monsters of yesteryear are almost consigned to history while the remaining population are being fished to extinction as the cost on their heads is increasing as the Japanese appetite grows.

With the size of the Mediterranean Tuna fleet as it stands today could quite easily wipe out the remaining population during the next 12 months, as these immense purse seiner’s actually follow what few fish are left all the way up to the Coast of western Ireland, to ensure they get as many fish as possible.

 This disturbing film shows you the real Japan and its methodoligy

 Atlantic bluefins are warm-blooded, a rare trait among fish, and are comfortable in the cold waters off Newfoundland and Iceland, as well as the tropical waters of the Gulf of Mexico and the Mediterranean Sea, where they go each year to spawn. They are among the most ambitiously migratory of all fish, and some tagged specimens have been tracked swimming from North American to European waters several times a year.

 the news headline for this one was-

Giant 513lb bluefin tuna sold for £110,000 at Japanese auction... by three different sushi restaurants

the truth of the matter is 10 years ago this fish would have been classed as average not big but just average.

Using backroom horse-trading skills honed by years of negotiations and maneuvering at the International Whaling Commission (IWC), the battle-hardened officials of Japan's Fisheries Agency were able to push through their agenda at the Convention on Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in Doha – leaving their less experienced European and American counterparts in their wake !!

The 30-strong Japanese delegation won vote after vote – surprising many at the 175-nation confab with their margins of victory. And with the proposal to extend the limited protection given to the porbeagle shark defeated at the final session on March 25, the Japanese and their allies were 7 and 0 in their campaign against the inclusion of a variety of marine species in CITES

“We were very shocked at just how quickly such big decisions were made, and with the big numbers they managed to carry,” says Wakao Hanaoka, a spokesperson for Greenpeace Japan in Tokyo.

Japanese officials refute any suggestions of hardball lobbying or “vote buying,” though Japan has been accused of using such tactics at IWC meetings for years in defense of its whaling programs. “The Japanese government has in the past used overseas aid as a weapon to get its way at the IWC,” claims Mr. Hanaoka

Japan embassy serves delegates bluefin tuna

Atlantic bluefin tuna was the subject of the fiercest battle of the 13-day meeting in the Qatari capital. The US Department of the Interior, which supported a proposed ban on commercial trade in Atlantic bluefin tuna, says that stocks of the fish have dropped some 72 percent, mostly over the past decade.

But Japan argued that many nations' economies would be hurt by a ban. And it turned some heads by serving delegates bluefin tuna sushi at the Japanese embassy the night before the crucial vote on the ban.

The ban, proposed by western Mediterranean nation Monaco, would have allowed EU members to fish and trade the bluefin among themselves: an arrangement that smacked of Western double standards to some in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. Japanese lobbyists were able to play on that perception in their pitches to many countries in those regions.

Some, however, are convinced that Japanese negotiators wouldn’t have been up to the job by themselves.

Teaming up with China?

“I just don’t think Japanese diplomacy is that sophisticated; take Japan’s application for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council – not one single country supported us,” argues Takashi Koyama, visiting professor of politics at Akita University. “If you compare Japanese diplomats to Chinese diplomats, for example, in terms of their English ability and their knowledge about to act, there’s no comparison. The Japanese are not good enough.”

Rumors also circle of a quid pro quo arrangement at CITES with China, to exploit its growing international influence.

“The Japanese government did a deal with China. They agreed to support China on the shark fishing ban – because shark fin soup is the most important thing to the Chinese – if China would support Japan on the bluefin tuna issue,” says a source familiar with the negotiations.

Japanese media coverage varied to an unusual degree, outlet to outlet, from what is normally a remarkably uniform voice. The ostensibly liberal Asahi Shimbun newspaper opened its coverage of the bluefin vote with: “Developing nations and an apparent push from China led to a rejection...by a margin that surprised even Japan,” apparently suggesting the votes had materialized without any pressure from Tokyo.

The Nikkei, the leading business daily, was more accepting of the realpolitik, calling the vote a “victory for Japan's extensive lobbying efforts.”

But environmentalists say these victories are hollow ones.

“Japan is hosting the UN 2010 International Year of Biodiversity, but what it is doing in Qatar represents the exact opposite of biodiversity,” says Hanaoka, the Greenpeace Japan spokesman.

take a look at this link for a truely horrifying stastiscics link, the author has put a lot of work into it

here is a brief preview

An international disgrace governed by a looting rationale
“Suppose that I stick to my quota, but others do not.
In this case BlueFins will get fished out, and everyone will be the
looser in the long term.
But I will be a looser in the short term as well, since by confining
myself to the quota allocated to me I will suffer a...n immediate
drop in income that others do not. Suppose on the other hand
that I break my quota.
Then, if others break theirs, BlueFins get fished out, certainly, but
I am not a special loser.
Contrariwise, if others keep to their quotas while I break mine, the
stock will be preserved to my long term benefit as well as theirs,
but unlike them, I will not suffer an immediate drop in income
either.
So, whether other BlueFin Tuna fishing states ignore or observe
their quotas, my best strategy is to ignore mine, while blaming
others for doing so.”

http://www.atuna.com/requiem.pdf

you may have to cut & paste it into your browser, it is a safe link

This extract was postedon a Japanblog and is as follows

Japanese food is known around the world for being only the best. While that is generally accepted wherever you go, Japanese cuisine does have its controversial points. Perhaps one of the most controversial things right now is the bluefin tuna. Think sushi and sashimi – only the best kind. The bluefin tuna can fetch astronomical prices in the local and international markets due to its incomparable quality.

This popularity has led to the decline of bluefin tuna populations, and conservationists have been trying to get a ban – albeit temporarily – imposed on bluefin tuna fishing and trade. According to scientists, the population of bluefin tuna is in danger, and this fish just might very well become extinct if we do not do anything about it.

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) was held in Doha last week, and countries took opposite sides of the argument. Naturally, Japan was on the side of continuing with the bluefin tuna trade. Not only does it involve business matters, but the bluefin tuna is an integral part of their cultural heritage. Japan did have a lot of support from other countries, and despite the influence of the European Union and the United States – who were leaning towards imposing a temporary ban – Japan emerged the victor.

There will be no ban on bluefin tuna fishing.

That’s good news for those involved in this business. That’s good news for those who can’t get enough of tuna. And, that includes yours truly.

I can’t get over the idea, however, that we might end up killing all the tuna fish out there. And, when that happens, what are we to do?

my response was

 Hopefully your nation will starve, or all die of mercury poisoning
I feel your attitude to this matter is somewhat childish in nature as both you and your nation have no control over your greed, I suppose your rationale is eat as much of it now because when its gone, it’s gone, the tides will turn and the foe will emerge from your pockets as the real world (not politicians that can be bribed as you have so often relied upon) begin to realise what your nation is actually doing, and stop buying products from Japan which at this stage your already weekend economy will collapse, at which stage both myself and the rest of the real World will rejoice.

what scares me is I was the only one to respond??

the link is bellow ! 

it looks like the Mediterranean Bluefin is not the only tuna in risk of serious overfishing.