Michel Rose, PlanetArk 4 Feb 10;
PARIS - France said on Wednesday it would support a ban on global trade in bluefin tuna, but after an 18-month delay, bowing to pressure from the fishing lobby to hold off an immediate decision on the giant fish.
France, Italy and Spain account for half of the world's total allowable catch of bluefin tuna.
Environmentalists such as Greenpeace called the delay "absurd" and said it could lead to the extinction of the fish that is prized by sushi lovers.
"Asking for 18 months to implement this measure equates to waiting until there is no more bluefin tuna before acting," Greenpeace said in a statement. "The government is buying peace with the fishermen at a time of regional elections."
Monaco has proposed protecting bluefin tuna, which can fetch up to $100,000 in Japan, by listing it under appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).
France did not expect a ban to come into effect before September 2011, Environment Minister Jean-Louis Borloo said on Wednesday, adding the CITES committee needed the results of a scientific study on stocks before taking a decision in July 2011.
"There is still powerful international lobbying from a big country, which has allies," he said, referring to Japan, where 80 percent of the catch is exported.
The European Union failed to make progress on bluefin tuna last year, with Greek Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas and Maltese Fisheries Commissioner Joe Borg deadlocked over how far the EU should go to protect the fish.
EU diplomats expect to see faster progress this year under newly nominated Greek Fisheries Commissioner Maria Damanaki.
French Agriculture Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Wednesday that France would call on the European Commission to compensate fishermen for lost revenues should the ban be imposed.
Fishermen's representatives called the French position "incoherent" ahead of the regional elections in March.
"The government is really in a messy position," said Francois Wendling, head of a fishermen's trade association in Sete in southern France.
"If waiting for scientific studies is so important, why is the government giving a position now? This is purely political."
President Nicolas Sarkozy said last year he favoured a clear trade ban on bluefin tuna.
Asked if the government would stand by its position if fishermen decided to block ports as they did in Marseille last April, Le Maire said:
"French fishermen are reasonable people. But what makes them angry is when rules do not apply to everyone. France will ask for reinforced sanctions against countries which do not respect them (bluefin tuna fishing quotas)."
There are about 200 tuna boats in France, but only 28 are so-called "purse-seiners," 40-meter long high-tech boats which account for 90 percent of all French catch. Traditional fishing for domestic markets will remain possible, Le Maire said.
France wants tuna trade ban in 18 months: minister
Yahoo News 3 Feb 10;
PARIS (AFP) – France wants a ban on international trade in bluefin tuna to come into force in 18 months in order to protect the over-fished species, Ecology Minister Jean-Louis Borloo said Wednesday.
"This is a difficult decision... but a necessary one," he told reporters.
The announcement came as the European Union has to decide whether to back calls for the lucrative but over-exploited fish -- beloved of Japanese sushi fans -- to be officially listed as an endangered species.
The French decision will weigh heavily on the final position adopted by the European Union.
Greenpeace environmental watchdog said the 18-month delay was "absurd" and akin to "waiting until there are no more bluefin tuna left" before the imposition of an international trade ban.
But a French government source said the timeframe was decided on to enable new scientific reports to be drawn up and to put the finishing touches to a plan for tuna fishing vessels aimed at reducing their catch.
France has a large bluefin fishing fleet and fishermen have urged the state to resist pressure from green groups when it decides whether to back adding bluefin to a list by CITES, the convention to protect threatened species.
The head of France's tuna fishing union, Mourad Kahoul, said Borloo's announcement had left him in a "state of shock" and that he was calling for an immediate meeting with President Nicolas Sarkozy.
Environmental groups warn that bluefin tuna face disappearance because of overfishing in the Mediterranean and Atlantic, mainly for lucrative markets in Asia, especially Japan.
The Japanese buy more than 80 percent of the tuna fished in the Mediterranean, so imposing an international trade ban would vastly reduce fishing of the species.
The European Union needs to come up with a common position on a ban ahead of a meeting of CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, in March in Doha, Qatar.
