Cites

Complicit or just complacent?

Posted by Willie — 6 April 2010 at 4:08pm - Comments

A fin whale from the air © CC Sabine's Sunbird

Article tagged as: CITES, fin whale, japan, netherlands, tokyo two

CITES: championing extinction?

Posted by Willie — 29 March 2010 at 6:11pm - Comments

I've tried several times to write a 'wrap-up' blog for this year's CITES meeting. But usually I end up just banging my head against the keyboard in despair.

This CITES meeting was a turning point – the governments in the room decided that they weren't there to restrict trade to protect species, but rather there to protect trade as best they could. Nowhere was that more evident than the marine proposals.

Sharks were shafted, corals crushed, and bluefin obliterated, as the assembled governments played politics, and wrung their hands earnestly over the adverse economic effects of actually protecting any of these endangered species. Conveniently ignoring the fact that it's their inability to restrain trade which endangered them in the first place...

Article tagged as: bluefin, CITES, endangered species, tuna

Failing to corral support for conservation

Posted by Willie — 22 March 2010 at 4:03pm - Comments

CITES agreed to protect a salamander at the weekend. I'm very happy for the salamander. But in the great scheme of things this meeting is hardly turning out to be a ringing endorsement of global conservation in action.

We're still reeling from the disastrous result for Atlantic bluefin; heads are being scratched over the failure to be bothered about the polar bears; spiny dogfish are still being ruthlessly battered as we speak, and; in another resounding blow to effectiveness, the proposal to protect red and pink corals was also resoundingly ditched by our collective governments meeting in Doha yesterday.

Article tagged as: CITES

Saving polar bears

Posted by Willie — 21 March 2010 at 7:39pm - Comments

As iconic species go, the polar bear is quite literally up there. They are emblematic of the top-most chunk of the planet, as well as the emotive symbol of the effects of catastrophic climate change.

Polar bears are quite impressive. They are the world’s largest land predator, and undoubted 'rulers' of their ice kingdom. In popular culture they exist as cuddly toys, heroic fighters, and fashion accessories for Lady GaGa (don’t worry, I checked, it’s fake).

Article tagged as: arctic, CITES, climate change, endangered species, polar bears

CITES - reality bites. Or rather, reality sucks

Posted by Willie — 19 March 2010 at 2:55pm - Comments

A Steller's sea cow skeleton - first spotted by Europeans in 1741, they were driven to extinction within 30 years © CC Funkmonk

International co-operation is vital if we want to protect the plants and (particularly) animals that we share the planet with. They don't all have a very quantifiable value, and often those most at risk live in countries in the developing world where it is hard to balance the growing needs of the population with effective conservation measures. It's also, of course, rather rich to be lectured by the developed West/North on how to look after your flora and fauna when we have been so remiss ourselves.

Article tagged as: bluefin, CITES, endangered species

Governments fail bluefin in Doha

Posted by Willie — 18 March 2010 at 4:13pm - Comments

The breaking news today is that governments at the CITES meeting at Doha have voted AGAINST a trade ban on Atlantic bluefin.

Words cannot express how frustrating this is. The science and scientific backing is incontrovertible. The public will and pressure is immense. The species could be  commercially extinct within just a few years.

Article tagged as: ban, bluefin, CITES, doha, extinction, mediterranean, oceans, trade, tuna

100 year old spiny dogfish with your chips, anyone?

Posted by Willie — 17 March 2010 at 3:01pm - Comments

Spiny dogfish - renamed rock salmon for the fish and chip trade. Image © Creative Commons

In the UK fish and chips is an institution. We have other institutions too, of course, like the Royal family, and in Britain if you make it to your 100th birthday, the momentous occasion is marked by getting a telegram from the Queen.

But how would you feel if the fish in your fish and chips was eligible for such a telegram?

Because, it just might be.

Article tagged as: CITES, endangered species, sharks

Fishy focus at CITES meeting in Doha

Posted by Willie — 17 March 2010 at 10:44am - Comments

The CITES meeting is now well underway in Doha, Qatar. Greenpeace is there, as are many other NGOs, and it’s clear that there is a very fishy focus for this meeting. As well as proposals to protect sharks and corals, Atlantic bluefin is the species on everyone’s mind. For a meeting concerned with the international trade in endangered species, it’s amazing how much of it could boil down to simple horse-trading.

This meeting, of course, is the chance to get an international trade ban on Atlantic bluefin, a measure that should protect the species from imminent commercial extinction.

Article tagged as: bluefin, CITES, japan, tuna

THANKS, from all the fish!

Posted by Willie — 12 February 2010 at 3:44pm - Comments

Tuna, halibut and eels are as happy as this stingray following this week's developments © Clicksy

It’s been a busy week, for the fish.

There was the news that the UK’s biggest seafood suppliers have decided to stop supplying European eel and North Atlantic halibut. Both of these species are already listed on the IUCN’s redlist, but the fact that suppliers and retailers are increasingly delisting such species is testament to ongoing campaigning by the likes of Greenpeace, the Marine Conservation Society, and Fish2Fork – making sure that they know that serving up endangered fish species is simply no longer acceptable.

Article tagged as: bluefin, CITES, eels, halibut, MCS, tuna

Bluefin trade ban bandwagon

Posted by Willie — 8 February 2010 at 8:30pm - Comments

It’s like déjà vu, but hopefully this time it will be for real.

Several months ago the UK jumped eagerly on France ’s coat-tails by announcing it’s support for a trade ban on bluefin. Amidst the ups and downs since then our friends at Defra have been noticeably unforthcoming of late. Getting any straight answer out of them on bluefin was like setting up a black pudding factory on Mount Everest. That’s why we encouraged supporters to make sure Defra did the right thing and publicly supported a trade ban.

Article tagged as: bluefin, CITES, EU fisheries, iccat, tuna
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