Corals used in jewellery fail to win UN trade curbs

Regan Doherty, Reuters 21 Mar 10;

DUBAI (Reuters) - A U.N. conference rejected on Sunday trade restrictions on red and pink corals used in jewelry in what environmentalists called a new setback for endangered marine species.

Delegates at the 175-nation meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in Doha failed to back a U.S. and European Union proposal to limit trade in 31 species of corals, found from the Pacific to the Mediterranean.

"Vanity has once again trumped conservation," said David Allison of Oceana, which calls itself the world's largest international ocean conservation group, of the decision that would have affected trade worth tens of millions of dollars.

"Today is yet another example of CITES failing to protect endangered marine species," he said. On Friday, the March 13-25 conference also rejected a proposal to ban trade in bluefin tuna, prized as sushi in Japan.

Sunday's coral proposal fell short of the needed two-thirds majority by mustering 64 votes in favor with 59 against and 10 abstentions, delegates said.

The proposed restrictions would have stopped short of a trade ban but required countries to ensure better regulations and to ensure that stocks of the slow-growing corals, in the family coralliidae, were sustainably harvested.

CATCHES DROP

Catches have dropped to about 50 metric tones a year in the main coral grounds in the Pacific and the Mediterranean from about 450 metric tones in the mid-1980s, the U.S. and EU proposal said.

In Italy, top quality beads fetch up to $50 per grime and necklaces sell for up to $25,000, it said. Main harvesting and processing centres include Italy, Japan and Taiwan. The United States is the largest market for red and pink corals.

Some nations objected it was complex to identify the red and pink corals at customs posts. But some rare corals, including black corals, are already protected by CITES.

The wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC and conservation group WWF said they were "deeply disappointed" by Sunday's vote. Measures to protect red and pink corals were also rejected the last time CITES met, in 2007.

"Without the trade control measures this would have introduced, the current overharvesting of these precious corals will continue unabated," said Ernie Cooper of TRAFFIC Canada.

Separately, CITES unanimously approved a proposal by Iran to ban all trade in Kaiser's spotted newt, a type of salamander from Iran, delegates said. The newt is under threat from trade agreed over the Internet by collectors.

(Writing by Alister Doyle in Oslo)

Wildlife trade body leaves rare corals unprotected
Marlowe Hood Yahoo News 21 Mar 10;

DOHA (AFP) – A UN body on Sunday rejected the monitoring of trade in dwindling stocks of precious corals days after nixing a ban on bluefin tuna, raising doubts about its capacity to oversee high-value species.

The Conference on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), meeting in Doha until Thursday, shot down the proposal despite an 85 percent drop since 1980 in global harvests of red and pink coral, among the most valuable of wildlife commodities.

A single necklace can sell for 25,000 dollars (18,000 euros), with a kilo of polished coral costing up to twice that.

Environmental groups slammed the decision, warning that the consequences could be severe, perhaps irreversible.

As with Atlantic bluefin, Japan led opposition to the measure, which targeted seven species of the deep-water, reef-building organism, one in the Mediterranean and six in waters off Japan and Taiwan.

Another 24 "lookalike" species, also in the Coralliidae family, would have been covered to prevent accidental harvesting.

"Management is already under strict control," a Japanese delegate said during plenary debate.

North African countries with coral cottage industries joined in the "no" vote, arguing that a CITES Appendix II listing -- which mandates export and scientific monitoring -- would damage livelihoods.

"It will have serious negative repercussions. Coral generates 5,000 jobs in our country, and 1.4 million dinar (one million dollars, 740,000 euros) every year," said a delegate from Tunisia, calling for a secret vote.

The 133 countries that cast ballots were almost evenly split, but the proposal would have needed a two-thirds majority to pass.

Co-sponsors the United States and the European Union argued that over-exploitation was responsible for crashed populations, and that only global oversight could prevent the species from slipping past the threshold of viability.

Some 30-50 metric tons of pink and red coral are harvested annually from the Mediterranean and Pacific, much of it transformed into jewellery in Italy.

"We need to think in terms of the cautionary principle," said Kristian Teleki, a marine biologist at conservation group Sea Web.

"The harvesting is happening at such a rate, it is simply not sustainable when you look at the ecology of these organisms."

Current practices in the industry could more accurately be described as "coral mining" than fishing, he added.

The organisms take 100 years to reach maturity, but newly discovered beds are often exploited beyond the capacity to reproduce within a couple of years.

Unable to source enough coral from the Mediterranean, Italian artisans -- centred in Torre del Greco -- today get 70 to 80 percent of their raw material from Taiwan, Japan and other sources in the Pacific, according to a 2004 study.

Marine conservation groups reacted strongly to the proposal's rejection.

"To say that it is highly disappointing would be an understatement," said Ernie Cooper, a coral expert with the wildlife group TRAFFIC.

"The message of this meeting is that it is going to be very difficult to achieve conservation for high-value marine species given the concerted effort to block any attempt to list them on CITES."

Last week, CITES rejected a total ban on fishing of Atlantic bluefin tuna from the Mediterranean and the eastern Atlantic.

Historically, the UN trade body has dealt more with charismatic fauna such as great apes, big cats and elephants, rather than commercially harvested species worth billions.

"The unregulated and virtually unmanaged collection and trade of these 31 species is driving them to extinction. Today's decision sets a terrible precedent," said David Allison of Washington-based Oceana.

Three years ago, a nearly identical proposal came before CITES at its last meeting.

At that time, the Appendix II listing was initially approved, only to be overturned during the final minutes of the 12-day meeting in a secret ballot.

CITES rejects trade controls for overharvested corals
WWF 21 Mar 10;

Doha, Qatar – Governments participating in the United Nations’ species trade convention voted today against implementing better protections for red and pink coral, which are being overharvested to supply the international jewelry trade.

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) governments voted against a joint United States and European Union proposal to list all species in the family Corallidae in Appendix II of the Convention.

An Appendix II listing would have required countries to introduce measures to ensure international trade in these corals is sustainable and regulated.

“TRAFFIC and WWF are deeply disappointed with the decision not to list red and pink corals,” said Ernie Cooper of TRAFFIC Canada.

“Without the trade control measures this would have introduced, the current overharvesting of these precious corals will continue unabated.”

There are more than 30 species of Corallidae found worldwide, which are harvested in the Mediterranean and the Western Pacific, primarily for the manufacture of jewelry and other objets d’art.

Major harvesting and processing territories include Italy, Japan and Taiwan. The USA is the largest market for red and pink corals.

Many species are known to be threatened through overharvesting. According to TRAFFIC and WWF there is a clear case that regulation of trade in Corallidae under CITES would provide important safeguards in support of better management of these valuable coral species.

“This is a shame for CITES governments because it was an opportunity to show that the Convention has not entirely lost the capacity to face down vested interests that oppose CITES protection for marine species,” said Dr Colman O’Criodain, Wildlife Trade Policy Analyst at WWF International.

China has already listed four of the threatened coral species found in its waters in Appendix III of the Convention. Such a listing requires that trade must be conducted only with the appropriate paperwork, allows countries to track and assess levels of international trade.

However, several countries considered the identification of corals a serious stumbling block for implementing trade regulations.

“Bringing up coral identification was just a smokescreen to confuse the issue,” said Cooper, who is soon to complete a guide to allow identification of corals, and has recently published a method for using DNA to identify manufactured coral products.

“Today’s decision was a question of expediency rather than a full examination of the facts. Commercial lobbying won through,” said Cooper, adding: “The conservation of corals is all at sea.”

Between 30 and 50 metric tonnes of red and pink corals are harvested annually to meet consumer demand for jewelry and decorative items. The United States alone imported 28 million pieces of red and pink coral between 2001 and 2008.

Corallium populations off parts of the Italian, French and Spanish coasts are no longer commercially viable, while in the Western Pacific they have been depleted within five years of their discovery and harvest is shifting to newly discovered populations.

Corallium populations have diminished dramatically in size; in the Mediterranean, colonies of Corallium rubrum of up to 50cm in height were once common and now more than 90 percent of colonies in fished areas are only 3 to 5cm tall, and less than half are sexually mature.

More terrestrial fauna placed under CITES
Proposal to regulate trade in red and pink corals widely used in jewellery defeated again
UNEP 21 Mar 10;

Doha, 21 March 2010 - A two-week meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) decided by consensus today to include several reptiles and amphibians from Central America and the Islamic Republic of Iran in its lists.

Governments did not have any objection to regulating trade in a Guatemalan Spiny-tailed iguana (Ctenosaura palearis) and other three species of iguanas native to central and south-eastern Mexico, the Yucatan Peninsula and Central America. These iguanas are mainly vegetarian, but occasionally feed on insects (ants, wasps and beetles), and are known to be in demand for the international exotic pet trade, mainly in Europe and the United States.

The CITES summit also adopted measures to protect a whole genus of tree frogs from Central and South America that is under pressure owing to habitat degradation and loss, and to the fungal disease (chytridiomycosis). Some of these frogs are subject to international trade.

Continuing in the same trend for terrestrial species, a salamander endemic to the Islamic Republic of Iran was also listed by consensus in Appendix I, which means that international commercial trade is prohibited. The Kaiser's newt (Neurergus kaiseri) is protected in its range State and the main concern is the demand for this species on the international market. Individuals caught in the wild are being illegally exported and find their way into the pet trade for use in aquaria.

Towards the end of the afternoon, the agenda turned again to marine species to consider a proposal submitted by the United States to control trade in 31 species of red and pink precious corals (Appendix II). Three years after a similar proposal was rejected at the Hague meeting, delegates have defeated for the second time (with 64 votes in favour, 59 against and 10 abstentions) the attempt to list some additional precious corals in CITES (black corals are already protected by CITES).

The family Coralliidae includes over 30 pink and red coral species, the most commercially valuable precious corals. These species have been fished for millennia, and millions of items are traded internationally each year. According to the proposal of the United States, the greatest risk to populations of Coralliidae is fishing to supply international trade, with landings that have declining by 60-80 % since the 1980s, and reductions in the size structure of populations in fished areas equivalent to a loss of 80-90 % of the reproductive modules (polyps). International demand has contributed to serial depletions of most known populations of pink and red corals, and newly-discovered stocks have been rapidly exhausted.

In early December 2009, an FAO Expert Panel concluded that the available evidence did not support the proposal to include all species in the family Coralliidae (Corallium spp. andParacorallium spp.) in CITES Appendix II.

The Panel considered that populations representing a large proportion of the abundance of the seven species [Coralliumrubrum, C. japonicum, C. secondum, C. elatius, C. konojoi, Coralliumsp. nov., C. lauuense (C. regale)] (globally did not meet the biological criteria for listing in Appendix II.

Lack of sufficient scientific evidence and the impact on the livelihoods of costal local populations depending on corals were the main arguments advanced by the opponents to this proposal. Coming tomorrow, elephant conservation and ivory sales.