The Obama administration is backing a proposal to declare Atlantic bluefin tuna an endangered species and ban international trade of the fish — a prized sushi ingredient and valuable commodity for local fishermen.
Pushed by environmental groups and the principality of Monaco, the trade ban would be the first dropped on a major commercial fishery under the United Nations Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, or CITES. Member nations will vote on the proposal at a meeting in Doha, Qatar, held over the next two weeks.
On Wednesday, the announcement that the United States would support a bluefin ban was immediately hailed as a "game changer" by the Pew Environment Group, which with Oceana, has spearheaded the drive for an endangered designation.
"Other governments can either can either join Monaco and the United States in boldly supporting the conservation of bluefin tuna, sharks and other marine species or they can yield to commercial fishing interests that focus more on short-term profits," said Susan Lieberman of the Pew Environment Group in a release.
A group of 15 lawmakers from Atlantic states — including five from Massachusetts — signed a letter written by U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, calling a trade ban counterproductive to existing bluefin conservation efforts and disproportionately harmful to U.S. fishermen.
Upon hearing that the United States would back the CITES listing, Snowe this week called the decision "egregious" and an act that would "penalize our fishermen for their contributions to the long-term sustainability of the species."
The American Bluefin Tuna Association went further.
"What this is, is a clear indication that the Pew Charitable trust is running NOAA and controlling the Obama administration and forcing this radical approach that will damage bluefin marketing prospects for years to come," said Rich Ruais, the association's executive director. "It is putting a label on stocks that bluefin are threatened to extinction. I think it is a devastating precedent."
The Snowe letter was signed by the entire congressional delegations of Maine and New Hampshire, plus U.S. Sen. Scott Brown and Congressmen John Tierney, William Delahunt, Barney Frank and Stephen Lynch of Massachusetts. U.S. Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, who did not sign, has not answered questions about his position.
The four-member Rhode Island delegation sent a separate letter to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service opposing a bluefin CITES listing.