Bluefin

Saving whales and saving money

Posted by Willie — 13 November 2009 at 11:47am - Comments

V for victory? A blue whale anticipates major cuts in Japan's whaling programme.

Many times during this conference I've heard bluefin tuna likened to blue whales - a comparison which has already been expressed eloquently by Charles Clover.

There are several stunning similarities -  they are both the biggest of their kind, hydrodynamic giants, amazingly adapted for life in the ocean. Most alarmingly though, both have been driven to the brink of extinction by overexploitation by a species remarkably ill-adapted for life in the ocean: humans.

Article tagged as: bluefin, charles clover, iccat, IWC, japan, tuna, whaling

Could bluefin tuna fisheries be closed? Our man in Brazil reports...

Posted by Willie — 12 November 2009 at 2:46pm - Comments

So, here in Brazil, the game is on. At the end of yesterday’s session the parties around the table at the ICCAT meeting were asked what their priorities were for conserving bluefin tuna. One by one they made positive murmurings about wanting to 'follow the scientific recommendations', and enforce compliance with them. They all pretty much said they want to see illegal fishing tackled. No rocket science there, and you would be forgiven for wondering why they have not done those things already!

Article tagged as: atlantic, bluefin, brazil, iccat, overfishing, tuna

Negotiating with biology

Posted by Willie — 11 November 2009 at 11:24am - Comments

As I write this, I'm sitting in the plenary room of the ICCAT meeting, whilst Charles Clover's film 'The End of The Line' is being screened. This in itself is a great coup.

In a memorable scene from the film, whilst attending a previous ICCAT meeting, Clover himself chastised the bureaucrats in that meeting for setting irresponsibly high quotas that ignored scientific advice. In his words they were '…negotiating with biology. And you just can't do that, and expect to see the biology survive'.

Article tagged as: atlantic, bluefin, iccat, oceans, tuna

Too chicken to protect bluefin?

Posted by Willie — 9 November 2009 at 9:37pm - Comments

There are a lot of chickens around Porto de Galinhas, in Brazil , where ICCAT, the body responsible for mismanaging bluefin tuna, and other fish species, is meeting this week.

Article tagged as: atlantic, bluefin, iccat, oceans

25% of top restaurants are serving fish as endangered as the giant panda

Posted by jossc — 22 October 2009 at 3:57pm - Comments

Having made a startling movie which has changed the way people think about what’s on their dinner plate, Charles Clover and the End of the Line team have now turned their attentions to restaurants which are still serving endangered fish.

A survey of more than 100 top restaurants conducted for their new guide, fish2fork.com, found that nearly 9 out of 10 were serving at least one 'fish to avoid' from over-exploited stocks. And some of the most critically-acclaimed eateries are among the worst offenders - 7 out of 25 Michelin-starred restaurants visited served species officially listed as endangered on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's Red List.

Article tagged as: bluefin, end of the line, nobu, overfishing, sustainable seafood

The End Of The Line: UK TV premiere

Posted by Willie — 19 October 2009 at 2:21pm - Comments

It's finally here.

The movie that changed the way people think about what’s on their dinner plate is hitting a small screen near you. The End of the Line will be screened at 10pm on More4 tomorrow night, Tuesday 20th October.

Article tagged as: bluefin, channel 4, charles clover, destructive fishing, end of the line, films, oceans

Video: the Inside Story of the plight of bluefin tuna

Posted by jossc — 2 October 2009 at 4:01pm - Comments

Yesterday’s 'Inside Story' on Al Jazeera TV was all about the collapse of bluefin tuna stock in the Mediterannean. The 25 minute programme provided a facinating insight into the politics and greed of the serious overfishing which has left bluefin on the verge of extinction.

Article tagged as: al jazeera, bluefin, CITES, tuna

Catch a passing FAD

Posted by jossc — 30 September 2009 at 1:51pm - Comments

The crew of the Esperanza, still out patrolling the Pacific against the overfishing of tuna, just sent us this video update. They have been monitoring and confiscating fish aggregating devices (FADs) where ever they come across them. FADs are still being widely used by tuna fishing fleets throughout the Pacific Ocean - despite their use being illegal for most nations over the summer months.

Article tagged as: bluefin, esperanza, FAD, pacific, ships, tuna, videos

What happened to your promise to protect bluefin, M Sarkozy?

Posted by jossc — 23 September 2009 at 3:28pm - Comments

First of all, apologies to any non-French speakers watching this video, because it's not going to make any sense. So why do I want you to see it? Well, it's more just as supporting evidence (see the transcript below), because this is the statement made by French President Nicolas Sarkozy on 16 July, in which he promised "complete French support regarding the listing of bluefin tuna to the international wild species convention, in order to ban any trade in this fish".

Article tagged as: bluefin, EU, EU fisheries, france, oceans, sarkozy, tuna

Bluefin-Eating Surrender Monkeys?

Posted by Willie — 21 September 2009 at 7:13pm - Comments

It's de rigueur in some quarters to dismiss France jokingly, as the Simpsons and some US political-types famously have done in the past. But the news today from Brussels suggests that the French government have made an embarrassing volte-face on bluefin tuna.

Article tagged as: bluefin, CITES, EU fisheries, france, monaco, nicolas sarkozy, tuna
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