The UN meeting in Doha, Qatar, has voted down the proposal to ban international trade in bluefin tuna.
The meeting on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) is to consider measures to save a number of threatened species, including the bluefin tuna. A proposal to include the fish, a price ingredient in sushi, in the CITES Annex 1, which would mean a virtual international trade ban, was originally put forth by Monaco. Its supporters ahead of the Doha meeting included the United States and, with certain reservations, the EU.
Japan, which consumes three quarters of the global bluefin tuna catch, was against it, and lobbied hard among smaller developing countries with local tuna fisheries in the preambles to the meeting.
According to a press release from the Oceana and MarViva marine conservation organisations, a Libya delegate forced a preemptory vote on the EU proposal, which resulted in a 43 to 72 vote, with 14 abstaining. The final vote on the stricter Monaco proposal was 20 to 68, with 30 abstaining.
The vote was carried out despite repeated calls from delegates from the EU, US and Monaco to allow time for parties to meet and arrive at a compromise position.
The Oceana/MarViva statement called it “a clear win by short-term economic interest over the long-term health of the ocean and the rebuilding of Atlantic bluefin tuna populations and fishery.”
“However not everything is lost”, campaigner María José Cornax added on a more hopeful note. “There’s a small chance that the proposal is brought up during the debates again.”