PARIS, France, November 27, 2010 – Government delegates from 48 fishing nations today failed to protect the spawning grounds of the vanishing Atlantic bluefin tuna, either in the Gulf of Mexico or the Mediterranean, although they did approve some protections for whitetip and hammerhead sharks.
"Greed and mismanagement have taken priority over sustainability and common sense at this ICCAT meeting when it comes to Atlantic bluefin. This measly quota reduction is insufficient to ensure the recovery of bluefin tuna in the Mediterranean Sea," said Dr. Sergi Tudela, head of WWF Mediterrean's Fisheries Programme.
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species lists the bluefin tuna, Thunnus thynnus, as Data Deficient, saying population numbers have not been assessed since 1996. Atlantic bluefin have become extinct in the Black Sea and Caspian Sea.
"Bluefin tuna will be wiped out unless drastic action is taken to stop overfishing at the world summit going on right now. Without these magnificent fish, oceanic ecosystems could collapse," warned the international nonprofit Avaaz, which submitted a petition signed by more than 319,000 people to European Union negotiators at ICCAT, urging bluefin protection.
Read the complete story from The Environment News Service.