The Economist sees through the fog on bluefin tuna. Who are these guys anyway? They're fairly perceptive despite not being experts on fish. Their bottom line:
Green view: Singing the blues
"In the end, the quota was indeed cut, but by a token amount: to 12,900 tonnes, a difference amounting to about two thousand big, old bluefins. So another opportunity to redirect the fishery confidently towards sustainability has been lost. The decision highlights Europe's focus on short-term rewards for its Mediterranean fishermen. It also reveals the empty promises of Japan, which had promised it would show leadership at the ICCAT meeting after it derailed the trade ban, but didn't."Reproduced in it's entirety, since it's a great analysis:
Green view: Singing the blues
Nov 30th 2010, 22:43 by The Economist online
(Note how they cut the name of the group doing the protest? I won't say who it was, but their intials are GP) |
For many decades the story has been the same. Prior to the meeting, the politicians are lobbied heavily by the fishing industry—which wants to catch lots of fish, and argues that there are plenty to catch. They will warn of dire consequences if the quota (13,500 tonnes in 2010) is reduced by even a kilo: the industry will be left in ruins; traditional ways of life of life will be tragically destroyed; there will be gnashing of teeth (but no whaling, unless things get really bad…).
The scientists that monitor the fish will for their part advise restraint. Every year their recommendations would lead most sensible people to suggest that the quotas should be smaller than the fishermen want. Green activists will argue they should be much much smaller. And at the end of all this the politicians will give the fishermen pretty much what they asked for, setting quotas far larger than scientifically advisable while knowing full well that the fishermen will go out and catch far more than they were supposed to.
Stocks of bluefin tuna have duly plummeted. In the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean declared catches were 50,000 tonnes in 1996. In 2009 they were down 20,000 tonnes. In recent years, as the stock of the bluefin has shrunk perilously, green groups such as Greenpeace, Oceana and the Pew Environment Group have ratcheted up the invective. Public concern over the bluefin reached such a pitch that in February this year a complete ban on international trade in the species was proposed.
That attempt to control things failed, not because of any intellectual discussions about the merits of a ban and the science of the stock, but because of bluefin-savouring Japan's way with the chequebook. Fisheries ministers were flown in from around the world to stay in the five-star-conference hotel, and were charmed at many boozy receptions serving bluefin tuna. Unsurprisingly they voted against a ban.
Despite this failure, the campaign for bluefin has achieved one important thing: it has raised public awareness of the problems of the fishery. This means the debate is no longer just about jobs and livelihoods, but is now about science and sustainability. The public is at long last aware that it is being short-changed by the greedy short-termism of setting quotas too high.
Underscoring the growing public awareness of bluefin, the administrator of America's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has turned up to the ICCAT meeting for the first time. The administrator, Jane Lubchenco, said that the decision “is not just in the hands of the folks who have a vested interest in the short term,” and that this was a pivotal year for ICCAT.
The fish belong to everyone, not just to those who have the capacity to catch them right now. If the stock recovers and the future of the bluefin is secured, the annual quota will increase many times over. More fish will be caught and more money made. That is good for everyone. The only losers in such a strategy are a small number of bluefin fishermen who are concerned about how they will pay the mortgages on their boats over the next few years.
So what should the quota be this year? Greens insisted that it either be tiny, or that a complete moratorium be imposed. The industry argued the stock assessment was better than it had been a year before, so the quota shouldn't be reduced. The ICCAT scientists said that if the quota was kept to 13,500 tonnes a year between 2011 and 2013, this would likely allow the stock to increase; they estimated a 60% chance of getting back up to a sustainable level by 2022. Greens stressed the corresponding 40% chance of failure.
Dr Lubchenco, who is a marine ecologist as well as a politician, said that given the uncertainty in the assessments one ought to “err on the side of caution”. This meant a quota lower than 13,500 tonnes, a level that she feels is not sustainable.
In the end, the quota was indeed cut, but by a token amount: to 12,900 tonnes, a difference amounting to about two thousand big, old bluefins. So another opportunity to redirect the fishery confidently towards sustainability has been lost. The decision highlights Europe's focus on short-term rewards for its Mediterranean fishermen. It also reveals the empty promises of Japan, which had promised it would show leadership at the ICCAT meeting after it derailed the trade ban, but didn't.
All is not lost. The public debate about the quota is a sign of progress, and so is the fact that it has not been increased. But ICCAT remains an undemocratic institution, holding its negotiations behind closed doors. Thus, it escapes scrutiny for a time; but stocks that fail to grow will represent a judgement on its deliberations from which it cannot hide.
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