United States failed to co-sponsor a proposal for consideration by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wile Fauna and Flora (CITES). Joshua Reichert, managing director of the Pew Environment Group, has lamented the failure of US at CITES that would protect Atlantic bluefin tuna. It is said that the proposal was made by Monaco to ban the international trade in Atlantic bluefin tuna through a listing of the species on Appendix I of the Convention because of the deteriorating status of this species.
He said that the Obama administration veered drastically off its ‘use science to guide decision making’ course by not backing this proposal to protect Atlantic bluefin tuna. As a result, the common sense conservation measures that would help stave off commercial extinction for this species are even further from becoming a reality.
Pew also said that the Atlantic bluefin population that spawns in U.S. waters has declined by 80 percent since the 1970s. In addition, it is estimated that up to 30 percent of bluefin caught are taken illegally and not even reported. This makes a perilous situation worse. It is told that CITES is the only global treaty that has the authority to regulate and enforce trade measures to protect those species threatened by international trade. It’s also the best route for us to pursue to protect what some people call the ‘greatest fish’ in the sea.”
