Pew Environment Group Urges Stronger Action to save Bluefin Tuna and Sharks, Regrets Failure of International Fisheries Commission

Pew Environment Group Urges Stronger Action to save Bluefin Tuna and Sharks,
Regrets Failure of International Fisheries Commission

PORTO DE GALINHAS, Brazil, Nov. 15 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- After meeting
for ten days, the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic
Tunas (ICCAT) refused to end fishing for Atlantic bluefin tuna. Instead, ICCAT
set the catch limit for bluefin, considered the most valuable fish in the sea,
at 13,500. Member countries also agreed on only one measure that will help
conserve sharks in the Atlantic, a ban on the retention and landing of big eye
threshers, but Mexico was granted an exemption to catch 110 of these
vulnerable sharks.

"Since its inception, the International Commission for the Conservation of
Atlantic Tunas has been driven by short-term commercial fishing interests, not
the conservation ethic implied by its name," said Susan Lieberman, Director of
International Policy for the Pew Environment Group. "Only a zero catch limit
could have maximized the chances that Atlantic bluefin tuna could recover to
the point where the fishery could exist in the future.

In October, Monaco submitted a proposal to list bluefin tuna on Appendix I of
the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species, which would
effectively ban the international trade of the species. Before ICCAT's annual
meeting, the Commission's Standing Committee on Research and Statistics
examined the status of bluefin and found that the species did indeed qualify
for such a ban.

"When you adjust the new catch limit to account for over-fishing and rampant
illegal fishing by some countries and add in ICCAT's poor enforcement and
compliance record, the prospects for the recovery of the once-abundant
Atlantic bluefin tuna are dismal," added Lieberman.

"ICCAT's lack of action on sharks was also disappointing,' said Matt Rand,
coordinator of the Shark Alliance and director of Global Shark Conservation
for the Pew Environment Group. "ICCAT took only one small step forward for
sharks, but we regret that no other steps were taken to protect many other
vulnerable shark species whose populations have declined significantly in
recent years. Member countries represented at this meeting also missed a
golden opportunity to mandate that all sharks caught in the Atlantic be landed
with their fins attached."

Up to 73 million sharks globally are caught and killed annually to support the
shark fin trade. In most areas there are no management regimes governing
sharks, and with fins commanding up to $300 per pound, fishermen have ample
motivation to catch and kill as many sharks as possible.

"We regret that there is no regional fisheries management organization
focusing on sharks," added Rand. "Sharks need to be managed sustainably just
like any other commercial fishery. Allowing sharks or any other species to
collapse from destructive fishing practices is no way to manage the ocean's
resources."

"ICCAT's actions and inactions highlight the need to take these issues to
CITES -- the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species,"
concluded Lieberman. "The ICCAT fisheries managers have shown scant interest
in the long-term preservation of the key resources they are supposed to
manage. It is now time to turn to other bodies to seek the needed protections
that ICCAT has failed to provide."

CITES is the global treaty governing international trade in endangered and
threatened plants and animals. Its next meeting is in March, 2010, in Doha,
Qatar. Pew has announced its support for a proposal by Monaco to list Bluefin
tuna as a threatened species at the CITES meeting, which would prohibit
international trade of this fish.

The Pew Environment Group is the conservation arm of The Pew Charitable
Trusts, a non-governmental organization headquartered in the United States
that applies a rigorous, analytical approach to improving public policy,
informing the public and stimulating civic life. To learn more, go to
www.pewenvironment.org.

For More Information, Contact: Dan Klotz, 1-202-436-6369
Email: dklotz@pewtrusts.org / Skype: dan.klotz.34

SOURCE Pew Environment Group

Dan Klotz, +1-202-436-6369, dklotz@pewtrusts.org, Skype: dan.klotz.34