The Sad Plight of Fish

Conservation virtually always faces pressures from every side and every angle, but few causes seem more hopeless than the plight of the oceans. Despite increasingly loud and well-supported warnings about overfishing and its dire consequences, nations, companies, and consumers remain unmoved. Today, we have yet another sad example of our collective inability to deal with the gross mismanagement of our fragile marine resources - the rejection of a ban on Atlantic Bluefin Tuna which has declined in number by 85% since the advent of industrial fishing.

Sue Lieberman, director of international policy with the Pew Environment Group, suggested lobbying from the fishing industry was ultimately responsible for the defeat. "This meeting presented a golden opportunity for governments to take a stand against overfishing, and too many governments failed to do so," she said. "The market for this fish is just too lucrative, and the pressure from fishing interests too great, for enough governments to support a truly sustainable future for the fish."  (Full article from the BBC here.)

The proposal was to put bluefin onto Appendix One of CITES (Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species) which would lead to a complete ban on trade in the species. Given the proven inability (through years of trying) for current conservation mechanisms and international management to halt the drastic decline in bluefin stock, listing the species on Appendix One seems to be the only reasonable and remaining option left for protecting the fishery. Yet selfish, short-sighted, and - I'll go there - stupid nations and politicians have once again chosen to bury their head in the sand and ignore the problem, thereby likely signing the death warrant for Atlantic Bluefin. Get it while you can folks, because it's going going gone soon! Or better yet, completely boycott the fish and start sending out letters to every world leader you know.

Are you willing to stand idly by while we cause yet another preventable extinction of an animal?