El compte enrera accelera dia a dia. Avui ha estat França qui, finalment, s’ha sumat a la proposta de Mònaco d’incloure la Tonyina Vermella en l’Apèndix I de la Convenció Internacional sobre Comerç d’espècies protegides (CITES), tot i que amb algunes reserves que, si es mantenen, debilitarien molt el gest. Sigui com sigui, ara la pilota es troba a la teulada (o coberta) del Parlament Europeu (votem la setmana vinent), de la Comissió (ha de fer pública la seva postura) i del Consell (amb una presidència, l’espanyola, que s’obstina a anar contracorrent oposant-se a la proposta monegasca). La votació final, a CITES, tindrà lloc a Doha durant la reunió que tindrà lloc entre el 16 i el 25 de març. La meva valoració de l’anunci francès la resumeixo de la següent manera:
Atún Rojo: le toca ahora a Europa mojarse
Después de que lo hiciera Italia, el Gobierno francés acaba de hacer público su apoya la propuesta de Mónaco de incluir el Atún Rojo en el Apéndice I de la Convención Internacional sobre Comercio de Especies Amenazadas (CITES), decisión que debe tomarse en Doha (Qatar) entre el 16 y el 25 de marzo. Ello conllevará la prohibición del comercio internacional de dicha especie, víctima en los últimos tiempos de la sobrepesca hasta el punto de encontrarse al borde de la extinción.
Para el eurodiputado de ICV y vicepresidente de Verdes/ALE, Raül Romeva. ‘Este es un primer paso hacia una verdadero compromiso en favor de la reconversión de una actividad económica que exige importantes cambios, también a escala europea. Sólo la recuperación de la especie, junto con cambios estructurales en el sector (potenciando la pesca artesanal en detrimento de la industrial) puede ser garantía de que dicha actividad, y especialmente los puestos de trabajo a ella vinculados, se mantenga a medio plazo. No obstante, en la propuesta francesa hay un gran interrogante con relación a la prórroga de 18 meses que acompaña a la decisión. Dicha prórroga, o moratoria, conllevaría el riesgo de hacer nulo el impacto de la declaración hecha pública hoy y es contraria al principio de precaución previsto en el derecho internacional para la pesca.
La protección de los recursos pesqueros, y más generalmente de la biodiversidad, es una urgencia económica y social.
La pelota se encuentra ahora en la cubierta de la Comisión Europea, que tiene que hacer público pronto su posicionamiento, del Parlamento Europeo, que debe votar la semana próxima en Estrasburgo sobre la cuestión, y del gobierno español, que ocupa la presidencia semestral del Consejo y el único país directamente concernido que se opone a la propuesta de Mónaco.
Confío en que finalmente se impondrá el sentido común y que las tres instituciones sabrán estar a la altura de las circunstancias y de la responsabilidad histórica que les toca, y apoyarán de forma clara y sin matices la inclusión del Atún Rojo en el Apéndice I de CITES.
De no hacerlo preparémonos para tener que explicar a nuestros hijos e hijas, y a los miles de personas cuyo puesto de trabajo depende del buen estado de los estocs, por qué, cuando tuvimos la oportunidad de salvar la especie, simplemente, la echamos por la borda.
Foto: Palasz Christine / Point.fr
Bluefin Tuna Bulletin #100
The voice of the bluefin – news from WWF Mediterranean on the bluefin
tuna fishery in crisis.
* * * France calls for international tuna trade ban * * *
Media Release, 3 February 2010
France’s call for an international trade ban on endangered Atlantic
bluefin tuna is a strong political commitment, but it falls well short
of giving this endangered species the immediate protection it needs from
overfishing.
French Environment Minister Jean-Louis Borloo made official today that
France supports the listing of Atlantic bluefin tuna on Appendix I of
the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild
Fauna and Flora (CITES), which will effectively ban all international
commercial trade.
However, France is asking for an 18-month delayed implementation of the
ban pending new scientific analysis of tuna stocks.
“WWF is pleased that the French leadership among Mediterranean states
is calling for the international trade ban for Atlantic bluefin tuna and
we urge the French government to drop the call for an 18-month delay in
implementing the ban,” said Dr Sergi Tudela, WWF’s tuna expert.
“This decision was made despite a comprehensive report made last year
on the historical depletion of tuna stocks, which revealed that current
stock levels are under 15 percent of what they once were. The mechanism
suggested by France for triggering the ban is not allowed under the text
of the CITES convention, besides being neither scientifically nor
economically justifiable.”
“Atlantic bluefin tuna is in a state of severe collapse after decades
of overfishing and reproducing stocks are dwindling to an all-time low –
and the driver of this situation is clearly international trade,”
Tudela said. “To give the species a break, an immediate ban of
international commercial trade at CITES – without condition or delay –
is the only logical step for the global community to take. Anything less
is woefully insufficient.”
WWF urges France to up its pressure on other countries to join it in
supporting the trade ban. The support for a CITES Appendix I listing of
Atlantic bluefin tuna by a major European fishing country may free up
the deadlock across EU member states and the European Commission, whose
fisheries and environment commissioners have been at loggerheads for
weeks in a failure to agree on the formal EC position.
Italy already voiced its support for the Appendix I listing last week,
along with suggesting a three-year suspension of industrial fishing.
“It now falls to EU Presidency holder Spain, other EU countries, the
European Commission and all governments that are members of CITES to
follow France’s lead and throw their support behind an Appendix I
listing for Atlantic bluefin,” Tudela said. “The trade ban must
however take immediate effect and be implemented without condition if it
is to be of conservation and economic value.”
The proposed listing on CITES Appendix I was originally tabled by the
Principality of Monaco. Fisheries experts at the Food and Agriculture
Organization of the UN and the scientific committee of the management
commission for this fishery (ICCAT) have both confirmed that Atlantic
bluefin tuna meets the criteria for listing on CITES Appendix I.
Any future modification of a CITES Appendix I listing can only be
carried out by formal proposal and discussion at subsequent Conference
of the Parties (CoP) meetings. Indeed, Monaco’s proposal is
accompanied by a resolution facilitating a review of the listing at the
next CoP, if scientifically justified.
A listing on CITES Appendix I will benefit traditional fisheries such
as the tuna traps that have lined the Mediterranean Sea since Phoenician
times. These fishers will continue catching and selling tuna in domestic
markets, while the bloated international purse seine fleets – the
majority of whose catch goes to Japan – will be paralyzed.
Under a CITES Appendix I listing, fishermen can only catch tuna within
national waters and sell to domestic markets. But France is also pushing
for the establishment of an exclusive economic zone (EEZ) around its
Mediterranean coastline. This would allow traditional sustainable tuna
fisheries to continue their activity and sell their bluefin tuna across
the European market.
“WWF supports the establishment of exclusive economic zones across
the Mediterranean Sea to encourage sustainable artisanal fishing in the
longer term. The monster industrial boats – pumped with public subsidies
– have dominated catches in the last two decades, putting artisanal
fleets in jeopardy and destroying tuna stocks. It is time to reverse
this perverse and discriminatory situation, and a CITES Appendix I
listing will do just that,” added Tudela.
The 175 member countries of the Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) next meet on 13-25
March in Doha, Qatar, where Atlantic bluefin tuna will be the headline
marine species.