Economy trumps ecology at UN wildlife meet

Marlowe Hood Yahoo News 25 Mar 10;

DOHA (AFP) – Commerce beat out conservation at a UN wildlife trade forum on Thursday, with Japan, China and pro-fisheries interests scoring a clean sweep in defeating proposals to protect high-value marine species.

At its final session in Doha, the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) reversed the only decision it had taken in 13 days to list an endangered ocean animal of commercial value, the porbeagle shark.

Lobbied aggressively by Tokyo, the 175-nation CITES last week massively rejected a so-called Appendix I ban on cross-border commerce in Atlantic bluefin tuna, a sushi mainstay.

Industrial-scale fishing has depleted populations of the gleaming, fatty fish by 80 to 90 percent in the Mediterranean and eastern Atlantic, the regions covered by the failed bid.

Two other sharks fished to satisfy a burgeoning demand for fins -- a prestige food in Chinese communities worldwide -- were barred from Appendix II, which requires export monitoring and proof that fishing is sustainable.

The slow-maturing scalloped hammerhead and the oceanic whitetip, harvested by the millions every year, are listed as globally "endangered" and "vulnerable" by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Japan also led opposition to CITES oversight of precious red and pink corals, mined from deep seas in the Mediterranean and the Pacific Ocean to make jewellery, mainly in Italy.

All told, seven such proposals -- all supported by the United States -- were rebuffed.

US and European delegates expressed deep disappointment in the conference, which also took trade-related decisions on African elephants, polar bears, tigers and several reptiles and smaller fauna teetering on the edge of extinction.

"I am disappointed that our proposals were not adopted," said Julius Langendorf for the European Commission.

"It is a significant setback for species," said Jane Lyder, head of the US delegation. "At least it brought a shining light on the status of marine species."

Japan's top negotiator Masanori Miyahara said he was satisfied with the outcome, but added that he "felt a very big responsibility for the future" of high-value marine fauna.

At the same time, he was sharply critical of the way CITES functions, suggesting that the UN body discouraged collective action.

"This organisation is only talking about winning and losing," he said, referring to the system of up-or-down votes requiring a two-thirds majority to pass.

"It is too much. We must work hard together to reach some consensus action," he told journalists.

The job of keeping tuna from tipping beyond the threshold of viability remains with the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), whose representative said the body was ready to "assume its responsibilities."

Critics point out that the body has for decades been unable or unwilling to respect its own quotas.

Japan acknowledges that tuna and other marine species are in trouble, but argued that CITES -- the only global body with the power to regulate wildlife trade -- was not the solution.

CITES: tuna, sharks still on the hook, ban on tuskers holds

CITES Secretary General Willem Wijnstekers disagreed.

"Japan thinks that CITES should keep its hands off of commercial species. I think that is wrong," Wijnstekers said, pointing out that the reach of regional fisheries such as ICCAT stops at national borders.

"If species cross borders both legally and illegally -- and unsustainably -- then CITES can have important added value, and should be used for commercial species as well."

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

"This is a very sad day for conservation," said Sue Lieberman, policy director for the Washington-based Pew Environment Group.

"Japan and China pushed countries to vote against conservation. We put the endangerment of these species at their feet," she said.

Many campaigners questioned the ability of CITES to carry out its mandate.

"It appears that money can buy you anything -- just ask Japan," said David Allison of Oceana, a marine conservation group based in the United States.

"The very foundation of CITES is threatened with collapse."

Lieberman said: "CITES has always been a treaty that restricts trade for conservation. Now it restricts conservation for the sake of trade."

Trade Beats Conservation At U.N. Wildlife Talks
Regan Doherty, PlanetArk 25 Mar 10;

Trade interests trumped conservation at a U.N. wildlife conference at which proposals to step up protection for polar bears, bluefin tuna, coral and sharks all fell flat, delegates said.

Short-term economic concerns hampered efforts to restrict trade in several lucrative marine species at the 175-nation Convention on International trade in Endangered Species (CITES), which wrapped up a two-week meeting in Doha, Qatar, on Thursday.

"As soon as big money gets involved, the 's' of science is crossed out by two vertical stripes," CITES Secretary General Willem Wijnstekers told reporters, meaning it becomes "$cience" spelt with a dollar sign.

"There is an enormous economic interest in catching and trading these species, and a CITES piece of paper is really a nuisance (for traders)."

Resistance from Asian countries, particularly Japan, to ban trade in Atlantic bluefin tuna received most attention. The fish is prized as sushi but stocks have plunged more than 80 percent since 1970, according to CITES.

Japan imports about 80 percent of the catch, mostly from the European Union. Delegates rejected the proposed ban after Tokyo argued that lax regulation of catches is the main problem.

"It's been a difficult conference from a conservation standpoint, perhaps because of the economic environment," U.S. Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Fish, Wildlife and Parks Tom Strickland told Reuters. CITES meets once every 2-1/2 years.

SHARK SOUP

After a conference that denied protection for many marine species, delegates on the final day even overturned a decision to step up trade restrictions for Porbeagle sharks, hit by overfishing in the Atlantic and Mediterranean.

Calls to step up trade curbs on seven other types of shark, including hammerheads caught as ingredients in shark fin soup in Asia, had already failed earlier in the talks.

"It is shameful that many CITES governments ignored science in favor of political gain," said Carlos Drews, head of WWF's Species Program.

Susan Lieberman, director of international policy at the Pew Environment Group, said: "We cannot continue to empty our oceans without consequence."

Amid the disappointments for conservation advocates, there were some successes. Kenya scored a victory with its proposal to combat the escalation of rhino poaching by placing the animals on a protective list.

Rhinos in countries such as India, South Africa, Nepal and Zimbabwe are killed by organized crime groups that control the smuggling of rhino horns to the far east of Asia, where they are sold on the black market for thousands of dollars, CITES says.

Calls by Zambia and Tanzania to relax a trade ban on elephant ivory were rejected. But a U.S. proposal to protect polar bears, which thrust the issue of climate change onto the agenda of the conference for the first time, was defeated.

(Editing by Alister Doyle and Noah Barkin)

Factbox: Trade decisions by U.N. wildlife talks
Reuters 25 Mar 10;

(Reuters) - Following are major decisions at a conferencem of the 175-nation Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in Doha from March 13-25.

Many proposals to step up protection for commercial species failed to win support, with many delegates saying economic interests won over long-term conservation.

MARINE SPECIES

BLUEFIN TUNA - Delegates rejected a proposal, backed by the United States and the European Union, to ban trade in bluefin tuna that is prized as sushi in Japan. Stocks have fallen by more than 80 percent in the main fishing grounds in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean since the 1970s, CITES says. Japan says poorly regulated fishing, not trade, is the main threat. A single fish can sell for more than $100,000 in Tokyo.

SHARKS - Proposals to step up protection for eight types of shark -- at risk from rising demand for shark fin soup in Asia -- were voted down. The oceanic whitetip, scalloped hammerhead, great, smooth and dusky hammerhead, sandbar and spiny dogfish sharks failed to win extra protection. A vote to set trade limits on the porbeagle shark was overturned on the final day.

RED AND PINK CORALS - The conference rejected a proposal to restrict trade in 31 species of red and pink corals used in jewelry. Catches have fallen to about 50 metric tons a year in the main coral grounds in the Pacific and the Mediterranean from 450 in the mid-1980s. The proposal would have made exporters ensure that harvests were sustainable.

MAMMALS

POLAR BEARS - A U.S. proposal to ban trade in polar bears, mainly from Canada which exported about 300 a year from 2004-08 as rugs or trophies, was rejected. Washington argues that climate change will melt the bears' icy Arctic habitat. But even some environmentalists opposed the U.S. plan, saying trade was a distraction and that the focus should be on cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

RHINOS - Kenya scored a victory with a proposal to combat the escalation of rhino poaching by placing rhinos on a protective list.

ELEPHANTS - The conference voted against calls by Zambia and Tanzania to relax a trade ban on their elephants that could allow a sale of their stockpiled ivory. The two countries say elephant numbers have risen in their countries and are a threat to people in rural areas.

OTHER

HOLYWOOD, BRAZILIAN ROSEWOOD - Delegates imposed trade controls on the two trees used in the cosmetics industry after decades of over-harvesting. The Holywood, found in South America, is used for products ranging from flooring to perfumes. Oils from the Brazilian rosewood are used as fragrance in perfumes.

KAISER'S SPOTTED NEWT - The conference approved a trade ban on Kaiser's spotted newt, a type of salamander from Iran. The newt is under threat from trade agreed over the Internet by collectors.

(Compiled by Alister Doyle in Oslo, editing by Noah Barkin)