EINNEWS, November 18— In a stunning disregard for conservation and denial of the devastation overfishing is taking on the stock, a UN agency has rejected a ban on the export of Atlantic bluefish tuna.
Of the 175 nations party to the UN’s convention on trade in endangered species only the U.S.,Norway and Kenya supported an outright ban, which was proposed by Monaco.
The opposition was led by Japan, which imports 80 percent of Atlantic bluefin tuna, mostly for sushi and sashimi. Because of intense overfishing, bluefin stocks have fallen an estimated 75 percent.
Monaco’s Patrick Van Klaveren told delegates. “Industrial fishing of species is having a severe effect on numbers of this species and its capacity to recover. We are facing a real ecosystem collapse.”
Japan acknowledged problems with sustainability of the species and said it was willing to abide by lower quotas. The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, or ICCAT. That group proposed earlier this month that the bluefin quota be reduced from 22,000 to 13,500 tons.
The actions come after investigative reports revealed that in addition to legal overfishing for Atlantic bluefin there was been a brisk blackmarket of illegal fishing, including among those who receive subsidies from the European Union.
For more seafood news, visit Seafood News Today (http://seafood.einnews.com), a seafood media monitoring service from EIN News.
