WWF - News about the conservation of endangered species

International protection needed for coral used in jewelry – WWF, SeaWeb

2010-02-05

Geneva, Switzerland - Countries participating in a major endangered species trade conference in March must back better protections for red and pink coral, which are disappearing because of overfishing to make jewelry.

Red and pink coral (also known as Corallium) are a type of deep-sea precious coral found in the Mediterranean and Pacific. Between 30 and 50 metric tonnes of these corals are fished 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.

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) Secretariat today recommended that countries support increased trade protection for red and pink corals, based on the available population data for these species. Science has shown that trade is having an adverse impact on red and pink corals’ ability to maintain healthy populations and to reproduce.

Meanwhile, the United States and the European Union are co-sponsoring a proposal to list red and pink coral under Appendix II of the Convention at the 15th Conference of Parties (CoP 15) in Doha, Qatar in March. Such a move would still allow trade, but only in legally and sustainably harvested coral and coral products.

SeaWeb and WWF support the Secretariat’s recommendations and are urging CITES member countries to support the EU and US’s proposal.

Kristian Teleki, SeaWeb’s vice president for science initiatives said, “Red and pink coral are among the world’s most valuable wildlife commodities. They are long-living, slow-growing species and have been intensively fished for centuries to meet demand in the jewelry and curio trade. A CITES Appendix II listing is needed to ensure these species aren’t fished to extinction.”

“A CITES Appendix II listing would be in line with protection for other coral species,” said Colman O’Criodain, Wildlife Trade Analyst for the WWF Species Programme. “An Appendix II listing for red and pink coral would support local management measures and also help combat poaching, which regularly occurs in the Mediterranean.”

Red and pink coral were proposed for protection at the last Conference of Parties in 2007. The parties initially voted in favor of the proposal, but the vote was overturned in a secret ballot on the final day of the conference, after intensive lobbying from industry interests. Parties will once again take to the floor during CoP 15, March 13 to 25, to consider the proposal. Alongside red and pink coral, several species of sharks, and Atlantic bluefin tuna will also be considered for trade protection.

France calls for international tuna trade ban

2010-02-03

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.

French Guiana set to tackle bycatch

2010-01-31

A new law requiring French Guianese shrimp fishers to use special devices that reduce unwanted fish catch will help better protect marine turtles and other vulnerable marine species in the region.

As of Jan. 1, the country’s fishing fleet under the new law now has to use a device called the Trash and Turtle Excluder Device, or TTED, to limit accidental capture of larger marine species.

Widespread use of this device, which took three years to develop, will greatly reduce bycatch among shrimp trawlers. In French Guiana, tropical shrimp fisheries represent a major source of undesired bycatch. Without a bycatch reduction device in place, shrimp represents only 10 to 30 percent of the total catch, meaning the rest is made up of other marine species.

Nearly half of the world’s recorded fish catch is unused, wasted or not accounted for, according to estimates in an April scientific paper co-authored by WWF. The paper, Defining and Estimating Global Marine Fisheries Bycatch, estimated that each year at least 38 million tonnes of fish, constituting at least 40 percent of what is taken from oceans by fishing activities, is unmanaged or unused and should be considered bycatch.

The TTED is an improvement of a previous device, the Turtle Excluder Device, that consists of a rigid grill inserted at a 45 degrees angle in the trawl with an opening toward the top or bottom. NOAA has documented in research a 97 percent reduction in marine turtle captures through using the device, and additional TED studies conducted internationally have shown a reduction in large marine organism bycatch of as much as 91 percent.

After three years of trials, a prototype combining the advantages of different systems was identified. This model, the TTED, offers numerous advantages, including a 25 to 40 percent reduction of fish bycatch.

In addition, the TTED reduces sorting time and risks of injury due to sharks and rays being caught. The new gear also improves the quality of shrimps, which are less likely to be crushed in the bottom of the trawl, and may also lead to a reduction in the amount of fuel consumed by the boats.

WWF will be talking about this successful project at the upcoming Seafood Summit in Paris, France, running from Jan. 31to Feb. 2.

The TTED is the culmination of years of research. With funding provided by the European Union and the DIREN (Regional Environmental Authorities), WWF commissioned a study from IFREMER (French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea) to determine which selective gear was the most adapted to fishing conditions in French Guiana. These initial trials, conducted under experimental conditions, were carried out on board a shrimp trawler.

Following this work, shrimp industry’s members expressed the need to continue these experiments and to become more involved in the project. In response, WWF and the CRPMEMG (French Guiana Regional Fishery and Ocean Farming Committee) began working in close collaboration in order to test and develop the best gear for the French Guiana fleet.

With technical support from NOAA and IFREMER, the CRPMEMG carried out numerous at sea trials in close collaboration with French Guiana fleets. Specific parameters where tested such as the shape and spacing between the bars of the selective grid. These trials allowed the fleets and the crews onboard the shrimp trawlers to understand the advantages of a more selective fishing gear and the benefits of using it in French Guiana.

Based on the results and the captains’ recommendations, the CRPMEMG decided to make the use of this TTED system mandatory by January 2010, when the annual fishing licences are issued.

The TTED was developed by the CRPMEMG and fishermen with the assistance of NOAA, IFREMER, the French Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Région Guyane, the European Fund for Fisheries (FEP) and the WWF.

Tiger Range Countries and partners make new conservation commitments in Thailand

2010-01-29

Hua Hin, Thailand – Governments from across Asia’s tiger range countries (TRCs) sent a powerful message that new efforts to save wild tigers from extinction would begin immediately and called for total protection of critical tiger habitats as the 1st Asia Ministerial Conference on Tiger Conservation concluded today at the resort of Hua Hin, Thailand.

The Royal Government of Thailand hosted the meeting. Thailand’s Minister of Environment and Natural Resources Suwit Khunkitti pointed to commitments in the Hua Hin Declaration, and urged other TRCs to follow through with consolidated technical recommendations that resulted from an earlier meeting in Kathmandu on tiger conservation: “We shall reach up to the highest levels of our governments for support at the Year of the Tiger Heads of State Summit in Russia. Let us join together boldly to save the wild tiger.”

Thailand made a number of new commitments at the conference:

• Expansion of its SMART wildlife area patrolling program in its Western Forest Complex (WEFCOM) at Huai Kha Khaeng-Thung Yai
• Assistance to its neighbor countries to repatriate tigers when the population of tigers in WEFCOM and Kaeng Krachan/Kuiburi becomes large enough to act as a donor source
• Announcement that it would make funding for the ASEAN Wildlife Enforcement Network a permanent item in its budget

Seven ministers, along with senior delegations from 13 tiger range countries, gathered with top wildlife conservation experts and representatives from international organizations and donor institutions such as the World Bank, Global Tiger Initiative, WWF, Save the Tiger Fund, Wildlife Conservation Society, USAID, FREELAND, and TRAFFIC, to energize the wildlife conservation agenda, update national action plans, and announce specific proposals to reverse the continuing decline of tiger populations.

President of the World Bank Group Robert B. Zoellick, who launched the Global Tiger Initiative (GTI) in June 2008 together with the Smithsonian Institution, Global Environment Facility, and other partners, delivered a video message to the ministers and delegations, promising support for the range countries’ efforts and to spearhead sustainable development in Asia: “The World Bank stands ready to support regional projects in the tiger range countries and to mobilize the donor community and develop innovative financial instruments to support tiger conservation funds.”

Populations of wild tigers have declined to only 3,200 worldwide, according to latest estimates, from 100,000 a century ago. The GTI is one of the drivers of the World Bank’s commitment to new strategies that balance economic development with nature conservation, biodiversity and environmental protection.

Another significant development in Thailand came from Prime Minister Vladmir Putin and the Government of the Russian Federation, who officially announced plans to host the Heads of State Summit in September.

The Hua Hin Declaration reflected agreement among the TRCs to redouble efforts on the ground to halt the decline of tigers and assist in recovery of habitats. An international donor conference is also planned later this year to support the countries to bring increased resources for integrated game-changing policy to save the species from extinction.

Michael Baltzer, Leader of WWF’s Tiger Initiative, said: “We are delighted to see a ray of hope for the tiger as represented by the tiger range countries’ commitment to work together to double wild tiger numbers by 2022. We look forward to seeing their pledges turn into firm actions in Vladivostok.”

All 13 tiger range countries were represented in Hua Hin. They include Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Russia, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Climate change could drown out Sundarbans tigers - study

2010-01-20

One of the world’s largest tiger populations could disappear by the end of this century as rising sea levels caused by climate change destroy their habitat along the coast of Bangladesh in an area known as the Sundarbans, according to a new WWF-led study published in the journal Climatic Change.

Tigers are among the world’s most threatened species, with only an estimated 3,200 remaining in the wild. WWF officials said the threats facing these Royal Bengal tigers and other iconic species around the world highlight the need for urgent international action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

“If we don’t take steps to address the impacts of climate change on the Sundarbans, the only way its tigers will survive this century is with scuba gear,” said Colby Loucks, WWF-US deputy director of conservation science and the lead author of the study Sea Level Rise and Tigers: Predicted Impacts to Bangladesh’s Sundarbans Mangroves. “Tigers are a highly adaptable species, thriving from the snowy forests of Russia to the tropical forests of Indonesia.

“The projected sea level rise in the Sundarbans will likely outpace the tiger’s ability to adapt.”

An expected sea level rise of 28 cm above 2000 levels may cause the remaining tiger habitat in the Sundarbans to decline by 96 percent, pushing the total population to fewer than 20 breeding tigers, according to the study.

Action on climate change needed to save the Sundarbans

Unless immediate action is taken, the Sundarbans, its wildlife and the natural resources that sustain millions of people may disappear within 50 to 90 years, the study states.

“The mangrove forest of the Bengal tiger now joins the sea-ice of the polar bear as one of the habitats most immediately threatened as global temperatures rise during the course of this century,” said Keya Chatterjee, acting director of the WWF-US climate change program. “To avert an ecological catastrophe on a much larger scale, we must sharply reduce greenhouse gas emissions and prepare for the impacts of climate change we failed to avoid.”

The world's largest mangrove forest

The Sundarbans, a UNESCO World Heritage Site shared by India and Bangladesh at the mouth of the Ganges River, is the world’s largest single block of mangrove forest. Mangroves are found at the inter-tidal region between land and sea, and not only serve as breeding grounds for fish but help protect coastal regions from natural disasters such as cyclones, storm surges and wind damage.

Providing the habitat for between 250 and 400 tigers, the Sundarbans is also home to more than 50 reptile species, 120 commercial fish species, 300 bird species and 45 mammal species. While their exact numbers are unclear, the tigers living in the Sundarbans of India and Bangladesh may represent as many as 10 percent of all the remaining wild tigers worldwide.

Using the rates of sea level rise projected by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in its Fourth Assessment Report (2007), the study’s authors wrote that a 28 cm sea level rise may be realized around 2070, at which point tigers will be unlikely to survive in the Sundarbans. However, recent research suggests that the seas may rise even more swiftly than what was predicted in the 2007 IPCC assessment.

Tigers already threatened by poaching and habitat loss

In addition to climate change, the Sundarbans tigers, like other tiger populations around the world already face tremendous threats from poaching and habitat loss. Tiger ranges have decreased by 40 percent over the past decade, and tigers today occupy less than seven percent of their original range. Scientists fear that accelerating deforestation and rampant poaching could push some tiger populations to the same fate as their now-extinct Javan and Balinese relatives in other parts of Asia.

Tigers are poached for their highly prized skins and body parts, which are used in traditional Chinese medicine. The 2010 Year of the Tiger will mark an important year for conservation efforts to save wild tigers, with WWF continuing to play a vital role in implementing bold new strategies to save this magnificent Asian big cat.

Recommendations in the study include:

Locally, governments and natural resource managers should take immediate steps to conserve and expand mangroves while preventing poaching and retaliatory killing of tigers.
Regionally, neighboring countries should increase sediment delivery and freshwater flows to the coastal region to support agriculture and replenishment of the land;
Globally, governments should take stronger action to limit greenhouse gas emissions;

2010 is the 'Year of the Tiger', and a year for action to save this species

“It’s disheartening to imagine that the Sundarbans – which means ‘beautiful forest’ in Bengali – could be gone this century, along with its tigers,” Loucks said. “We very much hope that in this, the Year of the Tiger, the world will focus on curtailing the immediate threats to these magnificent creatures and preparing for the long-term impacts of climate change.”

Seafood ecolabels under the spotlight in new WWF report

2010-01-18

Gland, Switzerland – The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) comes out on top in a new report commissioned by WWF that reveals poor performance among other assessed seafood ecolabelling schemes and calls for improvements across the board to strengthen their effectiveness.

Accenture’s non-profit practice, Accenture Development Partnerships (ADP) compared and ranked seven fishery certification schemes that use ecolabels on seafood products against a set of WWF criteria that focus on the schemes’ effectiveness in addressing the health of fisheries and oceans.

The MSC is ranked the highest in the ADP report, Assessment of On-Pack, Wild-Capture Seafood Sustainability Certification Programmes and Seafood Ecolabels, with a score of just over 95 percent compliance to the assessment’s criteria requirements.

Many seafood ecolabels are inadequate

The report finds that except for the MSC, the other assessed schemes - Naturland, Friend of the Sea, Krav, AIDCP, Mel-Japan and Southern Rocklobster - do not evaluate fisheries across all criteria to the extent required to support sustainable fishing and healthy oceans.

“The findings of this assessment reveal serious inadequacies in a number of ecolabels and cast doubt on their overall contribution to effective fisheries management and sustainability.” said Miguel Jorge, Director of WWF International’s Marine Programme.

“While the assessment shows the MSC comes out best in class using the most rigorous programme out there, it is not perfect. Improvements are needed across the board to ensure all seafood ecolabels deliver on their promise.”

Assessment of ecolabels based on best practice guidelines

The criteria used in the assessment reflect best practices for fisheries ecolabelling certification schemes with the Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) 2005 guidelines for ecolabelling forming the basis for the criteria. Standards developed by the International Social and Environmental Accreditation and Labelling Alliance (ISEAL) and elements from WWF’s framework for ecosystem-based management of marine fisheries were added.

The assessment points to significant differences in transparency, information availability, structure and accuracy of claims made by each scheme. Aside from the MSC, all other schemes assessed have substantial shortcomings in the area of transparency and information provision.

“The growth of seafood ecolabels over the last ten years attests to the strong demand from consumers and seafood companies who want seafood from better fisheries.” added Jorge.

“But with the proliferation of ecolabels and the variability of these schemes there is a real risk of confusion, or worse still a lack of confidence in seafood ecolabelling among buyers and consumers.”

Working with the seafood industry to protect life in the oceans

As part of WWF’s efforts to implement sustainable fishing practices globally to protect marine life and ocean habitats, the conservation organization works with major seafood buyers to use their purchasing power to secure seafood from sustainable sources and assess their current supply chain. The report is intended to address confusion expressed by this group and inform their choices.

The most credible ecolabelling schemes accepted in international fora are voluntary, third party, operated independently and involving interested parties.

Seafood ecolabels should reflect on their contribution to marine conservation

In addition to fisheries certification scheme efforts to address sustainable fishing, other issues including carbon footprint, animal welfare and social issues such as worker’s rights are growing in public consciousness. WWF calls on the seafood ecolabelling community to develop internationally agreed criteria for these priority issues and establish evaluation mechanisms.

“We recommend the assessed schemes reflect on their contribution to marine conservation and use the report as a guide to how best to assess and evaluate fisheries seeking their ecolabel.” added Jorge
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Camera traps yield first-time film of tigress and cubs

2010-01-07

Jakarta, Indonesia – Camera traps deep in the Sumatran jungle have captured first-time images of a rare female tiger and her cubs, giving researchers unique insight into the elusive tiger’s behaviour.

After a month in operation, specially designed video cameras installed by WWF-Indonesia’s researchers seeking to record tigers in the Sumatran jungle caught the mother tiger and her cubs on film as they stopped to sniff and check out the camera trap.

There are as few as 400 Sumatran tigers left in the wild and they are under relentless pressure from poaching and clearing of their habitat. After five years of studying tigers using wildlife-activated camera traps set up in the forest, these are the first images of a tiger with offspring.

“We are very concerned though, because the territory of this tigress and its cubs is being rapidly cleared by two global paper companies, palm oil plantations, encroachers, and illegal loggers. Will the cubs survive to adulthood in this environment?” said Karmila Parakkasi, the leader of WWF-Indonesia’s Sumatran tiger research team.

The discovery comes as WWF prepares to launch a campaign on 14 Feb. 2010, to coincide with the start of the Year of the Tiger in the Chinese calendar.

The year-long, Tx2: Double or Nothing campaign aims to raise the bar for tiger conservation by securing high-level political commitment at a Heads of State Tiger Summit in September in Vladivostok, Russia to be hosted by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, and supported by WWF and other partners of the Global Tiger Initiative, including the World Bank.

“We want to change the course of tiger conservation,” said Mike Baltzer, leader of WWF’s global Tiger Initiative. “It’s not just about saving the tiger from extinction, but about doubling their number by 2022.”

With wild tiger numbers as low as 3,200, and a systematic attempt underway to wipe them out of the forests in Asia, more must be done to ensure this charismatic species and flagship for Asia's biological diversity, culture and economy is not lost forever.

In addition to the tigress and cubs’ footage, the video camera also captured images of a male Sumatran tiger and its prey, wild boar and deer, as well as many other species such as tapirs, macaques, porcupines and civets.

Infrared-triggered camera traps, which are activated upon sensing body heat in their path, have become an important tool to identify which areas of the forest are used by tigers, and to identify individual animals to monitor the population. WWF has operated dozens of cameras throughout the central Sumatran province of Riau.

Parakkasi and her team first captured still images of the tigress and its cub in July 2009 through still camera traps. The photos were, however, not very clear.

“We were not so sure how many cubs there were,” she said.

Video camera traps were then installed in September at the same location to clarify the initial findings.

WWF’s tiger research team set up four of the video camera traps in known tiger routes in a forested “wildlife corridor” that allows animals to move between two protected areas in central Sumatra – Rimbang Baling Wildlife Reserve in Riau and Bukit Tigapuluh National Park in both Riau and Jambi provinces.

“When these cubs are old enough to leave their mother, which will be soon, they will have to find their own territory,” said Ian Kosasih, WWF-Indonesia’s Forest Programme Director. “Where will they go? As tiger habitat shrunk with so much of the surrounding area having been cleared, the tigers will have a very hard time avoiding encounters with people. That will then be very dangerous for everyone involved.”

“With this clear scientific evidence of tiger presence, WWF calls for formal establishment of the area between Rimbang Baling and Bukit Tigapuluh forests as a protected wildlife corridor,” Kosasih said.

WWF is also urging the paper companies operating in the area – Sinar Mas/APP and APRIL – as well as palm oil plantations to help protect all high conservation value forests under their control that are the habitat of tigers and other endangered species.

Learn more about tigers

Sustainability standards completed for tilapia farming

2009-12-18

Washington D.C. - Global standards addressing the negative impacts of tilapia farming on the environment and society have been finalized.

They are the first set of final standards produced through the Aquaculture Dialogues, a series of roundtables coordinated by WWF.

The standards are the final product of the Tilapia Aquaculture Dialogue, a network of more than 200 people – including producers, conservationists and scientists – created in 2005 to help transform the aquaculture industry. Many of the participants are from the world’s leading tilapia producing regions, including Central America and Asia.

“With almost 75 percent of the world’s tilapia coming from a farm, instead of being raised in the wild, the need for credible standards is critical and timely,” said Dr. Aaron McNevin of WWF, tilapia Dialogue coordinator and Dialogue Steering Committee member.

The standards will allow the tilapia industry to grow while minimizing its impacts, such as non-native tilapia being introduced and chemicals being released into the water.

“There are other tilapia standards on the market but these standards have staying power because they were developed by a broad and diverse group of experts through a very transparent process,” McNevin said. “The standards also will have a long shelf life because they are metrics-based, which is the only way to really know if the tilapia industry is reducing its environmental footprint.”

The certification costs will be low compared to most certification programs because the standards focus on reducing a set number of key impacts instead of a long list of issues. The relatively low cost will make it easier for small- and large-scale producers to adopt the standards. Farmers who adopt the standards will be eligible for certification by early 2010.

The Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC), a new entity that will be in operation in 2011, will be responsible for working with independent, third party entities to certify farms that are in compliance with all of the standards created through the Aquaculture Dialogues process, including the tilapia standards. In the meantime, this role will be filled by GLOBALGAP, a private sector body that sets voluntary standards. GLOBALGAP will certify tilapia producers by supplementing its existing food safety, environmental and social requirements with the new standards. GLOBALGAP Is expected to begin offering this new certification option to tilapia producers by the end of 2009.

“We support the tilapia standards because they will help us tell our customers the story they want and deserve to hear – that they are eating tilapia which was raised in an environmentally friendly way,” said Craig Watson, Vice President of Agricultural Sustainability of Sysco Corporation, the largest foodservice distributer in the United States. “And with the ASC in place, we will have the assurance that the standards will be adhered to properly, which will bring credibility and longevity to the standards.”

The tilapia standards are based on almost five years of discussions and research, as well as feedback received from more than 50 stakeholders when the draft standards were posted for review. The steering committee that managed the Dialogue process used all of this information to develop the final product. The committee included representatives from Regal Springs Trading Company, Sustainable Fisheries Partnership, New England Aquarium, Aquamar, Rain Forest Aquaculture and WWF.

“The end result of this process is a product our customers can be proud of because they know it is based on the best input from scientists, producers and NGOs,” said committee member Mike Picchietti of Regal Springs. “And the timing of it is perfect because the standards will allow the tilapia industry to grow without having a negative impact on the environment and society.”

The standards will be amended over time to incorporate new science and to encourage continuous improvement on the farm.

Through the Aquaculture Dialogues, standards for 12 aquaculture species will be created. The Dialogue process includes 2,000 people.The goal of the Dialogues is to follow the International Social and Environmental Accreditation and Labeling Alliance’s guidelines for creating environmental and social standards.

UN experts back proposal for bluefin tuna trade ban

2009-12-15

Rome, Italy - United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) experts say evidence shows the endangered Atlantic bluefin tuna meets the requirements for an international trade ban.

The experts met as a panel last week to discuss trade regulations governing six commercially traded marine species and whether to recommend further action to protect them from overfishing.

Other species considered by the panel included spiny dogfish, porbeagle, red and pink corals, scalloped hammerhead sharks and oceanic white tip shark.

The FAO’s panel is highly influential in how countries vote during the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which will hold its 15th annual meeting in March in Doha, Qatar.

Countries with strong fisheries interests often rely on advice from the panel on how to vote during those meetings, meaning that the long-term survival of some endangered species often depends on the FAO panel’s recommendations.

The FAO opened its statement today saying that "a majority of the panel agreed that the available evidence supports the proposal listing under CITES Appendix I of Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus)" and later highlighted that "an Appendix I listing would be likely to reduce the bluefin catches from both component populations. This would assist to ensure that recent unsustainable catches in the east Atlantic and Mediterranean are reduced."

CITES, which is an international agreement between governments that works to ensure that international trade in wild species does not threaten their survival, normally offers its own scientific assessment on all the proposals it receives. However, in response to the concerns of larger fishing countries, it made an agreement with FAO that tasks the organization with conducting its own technical assessment of proposals for commercially traded marine species.

This week’s recommendation from the FAO panel came after the scientific committee of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), the regional fisheries management organization in charge of the Atlantic bluefin fishery, had already shown through their own analysis that the species meets the criteria for a ban on international trade.

"Today’s comments from the UN backing stronger protection measures are a crucial contribution to efforts to save the Atlantic bluefin tuna,” said Dr Sergi Tudela, Head of Fisheries at WWF Mediterranean. “A listing on Appendix I of CITES, which would temporarily ban all international commercial trade, is the best option by far to ensure the recovery and long-term survival of Atlantic bluefin tuna, now severely overfished."

"We all want the same thing ultimately - a sustainable, thriving fishery and trade of this species, but to achieve that goal some drastic measures are necessary now to give the fish a break.”

“WWF urges all CITES Contracting Parties to adopt a strong position on the Atlantic bluefin tuna listing proposal to ensure a positive vote for the temporary trade ban in Doha - and thus a chance to save this icon of the oceans."

In addition, the panel recommended stricter trade controls through listing on CITES Appendix II for porbeagle, scalloped hammerhead and oceanic white tip sharks.

However, they also said that spiny dogfish or red and pink corals did not meet the criteria for stronger trade controls.

WWF welcomed the panel’s recommendations on porbeagle, scalloped hammerhead and oceanic white tip sharks but expressed disappointment that these experts failed to see the importance of giving spiny dogfish and red and pink corals the same trade controls.

The panel recognized that “inadequate management in many areas of distribution of these species represents a cause for ‘serious concern,’” and it recommended that national governments and regional fisheries management organizations remedy the situation on their own.

WWF does not agree that this will be enough to save these species, and believes that these species need the support of a CITES Appendix II listing.

WWF is concerned that in cases such as red coral the panel assumed that, where data are lacking on how much is harvested, that the species is not overharvested. This is contrary to the precautionary principle that lies at the heart of conservation decision-making. In fact, the reason the data are lacking is usually because the proper research has not been conducted or because countries are failing to report their catches.

A detailed report on the recommendations of the panel will be released by the FAO next month.

Flaws in protection measures hurt Bigeye tuna stocks

2009-12-07

Cambridge, UK — Failure by the Western Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) to manage fish stocks properly is contributing to the reduction of Bigeye tuna and other fish.

WWF and TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network, said today that the regional fisheries management organization must address these flaws when they meet this week in Tahiti.

“TRAFFIC and WWF are particularly concerned that the efforts made by WCPFC to reduce fishing effort to try and protect Bigeye tuna stocks in the Pacific have failed according to the Commission’s Scientific Committee,” said Glenn Sant, TRAFFIC’s Global Marine Programme Leader.

“Tuna Commissions need to listen to the advice of their Scientific Committees.

“It is of paramount importance that effective steps are taken to reduce the mortality of Bigeye Tuna immediately by 43 percent,” Sant said.

Global stocks of several tuna species are heavily overfished, with populations of Atlantic and Southern Bluefin tuna fished down to dangerously low levels. The Southern Bluefin tuna spawning stock is as low as 3 percent of its original size. More recently, concerns have been expressed over stocks of Yellow-fin tuna in the Indian Ocean.

“We live in desperate times as far as the health of our global tuna stocks are concerned,” said Sant.

In 2007, TRAFFIC and WWF published With An Eye to the Future: Addressing Failures in the Global Management of Bigeye Tuna, a report showing that Bigeye Tuna stocks around the world require better management.

“Last year, WCPFC tried to address overfishing of Bigeye Tuna in the Pacific, but their measures haven’t worked. Now there is no time to lose if Bigeye Tuna is not to join its cousins on the brink of fished-out over-exploitation.”

Conservation of shark species caught during tuna fishing activities is another area of concern TRAFFIC and WWF have flagged for the meeting.

The organizations say a requirement that the landing of sharks should be mandatory, with fins naturally attached and all products tagged for traceability until their final destination.

The sixth annual meeting of WCPFC is taking place in Tahiti, from Dec. 7-11.

Europe pours tens of millions into bloating bluefin fleet

2009-12-04

Brussels, Belgium: Europe poured €34.5 million of EU taxpayers’ money into increasing and modernizing its oversize bluefin tuna fleets over the very period it was coming to concede that excess fishing capacity was a key factor in overfishing and illegal fishing of collapsing bluefin stocks.

The information on 2000-2008 payments to the bluefin tuna fisheries was provided this week in response to a September question from Raül Romeva i Rueda, a Spanish Member of the European Parliament (MEP) with the ‘Iniciativa per Catalunya Verds’, part of the European Greens.

The delayed response meant the information was not available for November’s meeting of the International Commission on Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), which witnessed several heated discussions on the reduction of fishing capacity

Rueda was told that the largest portion of the money - €23 million - was aid for the construction of new boats including modern purse seiners (industrial high-tech vessels with purse-like nets that scoop up large amounts of tuna).

Some €10.5 million went into the modernisation of existing vessels while, in stark contradiction to recent EU rhetoric about the need to reduce the size of the fleet, only €1 million went into decommissioning boats, all of which were smaller artisanal vessels.

"I am shocked at the scale of subsidies "

The real level of subsidies is likely much higher, with unknown additional sums being pumped into the bloated fleet by EU member states.

Spanish boat owners were the largest beneficiaries of the 611 vessels involved, with the remainder shared between fleet owners in Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy and Malta.

Overcapacity has been identified as a key factor in catches that in 2007 were estimated at twice the legal levels set by ICCAT largely as a result of EU lobbying to be around twice the prudent levels advised by ICCAT’s scientists.

Average catch size of Atlantic bluefin tunas fished in the Mediterranean Sea reduced by half during the period - for example in Spanish waters average catch size in 1994 was 159 kg, whereas by 2009 it was only 77 kg. These declines have been interpreted as indicating the dying out of reproducing tunas, and if such trends were to continue this could lead to the wiping out of the entire spawning population as soon as 2012.

“I am shocked at the scale of the subsidies given to the bluefin fleet,” said Rueda. “This shows clearly the hypocrisy of the EU, which insists on the need to conserve fish stocks while simultaneously encouraging the rapid expansion of a fleet that was already too large.”

The European Commission’s response states that “the number of Community vessels licensed to fish for bluefin tuna in 2009 was 859 vessels or 52,553 Gross Tonnage (GT)”, a much larger capacity than the EU’s designated 2009 catch quota of 12,400 tonnes.

“It is a scandal that perverse EU subsidies have helped create a Frankenstein fleet continuing to aggressively target a collapsing species,” said Dr Sergi Tudela of WWF. “European citizens have given a gift of 34.5 millions Euros to the bluefin tuna industry which has resulted in the collapse of an ancient fishery, and what will happen next?"

“WWF strongly demands that no more EU public money be pumped into this business.”

Mismanagement of the bluefin fishery has fuelled moves to have international trade restrictions placed on Atlantic bluefin tuna at the forthcoming March meeting of parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in Doha, Qatar.

Species survival hinges on UN meeting

2009-12-04

Rome, Italy – The fate of valuable marine species – including Atlantic bluefin tuna – likely will be decided at an upcoming United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) meeting next week.

An FAO expert panel on commercially traded marine species is meeting Monday to consider whether it will recommend support for stricter trade regulations for the six species – a critical step to ensuring that they are not harvested to extinction.

In addition to Atlantic bluefin tuna, species under consideration include spiny dogfish, porbeagle, red and pink corals, scalloped hammerhead sharks, and the oceanic white tip shark.

The panel’s decision on each species will affect the outcome of the 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, in March (CITES COP 15). Many countries that vote at CITES – especially those with strong fisheries interests - rely on the panel for advice on how they should vote.

CITES, which is an international agreement between governments that works to ensure that international trade in wild species does not threaten their survival, normally offers its own scientific assessment on all the proposals it receives. However, in response to the concerns of larger fishing countries, it made an agreement with FAO that tasks the organization with conducting its own technical assessment of proposals for commercially traded marine species.

“This is a critical meeting as it could influence important decisions about the future of these species,” said Amanda Nickson, Director of the Species Programme at WWF International. “Each one being discussed needs stronger trade restrictions as they are all overharvested, particularly Atlantic bluefin tuna.”

“WWF calls on the panel to endorse these proposals and encourages CITES Parties to give these species the break they need for recovery.”

Tigres, osos polares y atunes de aleta azul entre las especies más amenazadas

2009-12-03

El cambio climático surge como una amenaza adicional a la pérdida del hábitat y a la cacería en la lista “Diez especies que se deben vigilar en 2010” de WWF.

WASHINGTON D.C.--- El 2 de diciembre, WWF, la organización mundial de conservación, anunció su lista anual de algunas de las especies más amenazadas en el mundo, indicando que la supervivencia de muchos animales es cada vez más preocupante debido a una serie de retos, incluyendo cambio climático, y pide se aumenten los esfuerzos de conservación.

La lista “Diez especies que se deben vigilar en 2010” incluye a especies como el tigre, el oso polar, el panda y el rinoceronte, así como especies menos conocidas como el atún de aleta azul y los gorilas de montaña. WWF dice que estas y muchas otras especies se encuentran más amenazadas que nunca por la pérdida de su hábitat, por la cacería y por desafíos relacionados al cambio climático. La lista de este año incluye cinco especies directamente impactadas por el cambio climático. La mariposa monarca, es una especie que se encuentra en el foco de un fenómeno biológico amenazado. Los tigres encabezan la lista de este año, lo que coincide con el Año del Tigre en febrero de 2010.

“Tenemos una oportunidad única para evitar que algunos de los animales más esplendidos del mundo se extingan”, dijo la Dra. Sybille Klenzendorf, Directora de Conservación de Especies de WWF. “Exhortamos a todos aquellos que quieran vivir en un mundo donde existan los tigres, osos polares y pandas, tomen como resolución de año nuevo el salvar a estos increíbles y amenazados animales antes de que sea demasiado tarde”.

La lista “Diez especies que se deben vigilar en 2010” de WWF incluye:

Tigre
Estudios recientes indican que puede haber tan solo 3.200 tigres (Panthera tigris) en su hábitat natural. Los tigres ocupan menos del 7% del rango original, el cual ha disminuido en 40% durante los últimos 10 años. La acelerada deforestación y la cacería desmedida pueden conllevar a la extinción del tigre, como sucedió con el tigre de Java y de Bali. Los tigres son cazados porque algunas partes de sus cuerpos son utilizadas para la medicina tradicional China, al mismo tiempo que sus pieles son altamente cotizadas en el mercado. Adicionalmente, el aumento del nivel del mar, debido al cambio climático, amenaza el hábitat de manglares de la población clave de tigres de la India y Bangladesh. El Año del Tigre, en 2010, será un año muy importante para los esfuerzos de conservación de los tigres, donde WWF juega un papel importante en la implementación de nuevas estrategias para salvar a este gran felino del Asia.

Oso Polar
El oso polar del Ártico (Ursus maritimus) se ha convertido en un símbolo icónico de las victimas afectadas por la pérdida de hábitat debido al cambio climático. Clasificada como una especie en peligro, por el Acta de Especies Amenazadas de los Estados Unidos, el oso polar se podría extinguir para el próximo siglo, si las tendencias de calentamiento en el Ártico continúan a la misma velocidad. WWF apoya investigaciones de campo para entender como el cambio climático afecta a los osos polares y desarrollar estrategias de adaptación. Para proteger el hábitat del oso polar, WWF trabaja con gobiernos e industrias a fin de reducir amenazas provenientes del transporte así como de la explotación de gas y petróleo en la región y con comunidades locales para reducir encuentros conflictivos entre humanos y osos, en aéreas donde estos se encuentran atrapados en tierra por periodos más largos, debido a la falta de hielo.

Morsa del Pacífico
El mar de Chuckchi y el mar de Bering en el Ártico son el hogar de la morsa del Pacífico (Odobenus rosmarus divergens), una de las víctimas del cambio climático. En septiembre de este año, se encontraron cerca de 200 morsas muertas en la costa del mar Chuckchi en las costas de Alaska. Estos animales dependen de las capas de hielo flotante para descansar, dar a luz, amamantar y proteger a sus crías de los depredadores. Con el derretimiento del hielo en el Ártico, esta especie esta perdiendo su hábitat de tal forma que ya podría añadirse en el Acta de Especies Amenazadas de los Estados Unidos, según el Servicio de Pesca y Vida Silvestre de EE.UU.

Pingüino de Magallanes
Amenazados anteriormente por derrames de petróleo, los pingüinos de Magallanes (Spheniscus magellanicus), ahora confrontan una amenaza más grande debido a que los peces son desplazados por corrientes oceánicas cálidas, forzando a esta ave a desplazarse más lejos para encontrar alimento. El año pasado cientos de pingüinos de Magallanes llegaron a playas de Rio de Janeiro, muchos muertos o moribundos. Los científicos especulan que cambios en las corrientes o en las temperaturas, relacionadas con el cambio climático, pueden ser la causa por la cual estos llegaron a playas que se encuentran a más de mil millas hacia el Norte de su área tradicional de anidación, en el Sur de Argentina. Actualmente, 12 de las 17 especies de pingüinos están experimentando una rápida disminución en sus poblaciones.

Tortuga Laúd o Baula
La tortuga laúd o baula (Dermochelys coriaceathe) es la tortuga marina más grande y uno de los reptiles que ha vivido durante más tiempo, sobreviviendo por más de cientos de millones de años, pero ahora se encuentra bajo grave peligro de extinción. Estimaciones recientes indican que su población está declinando, particularmente en el Pacífico donde se estima que solo quedan 2.300 tortugas hembras, convirtiendo a la laúd del Pacífico en la tortuga marina más amenazada en todo el mundo. En el Atlántico, esta tortuga tiene una población más estable, pero los científicos predicen su rápida declinación debido al gran número de tortugas que mueren al ser capturadas incidentalmente por embarcaciones de pesca.

Una amenaza adicional a las tortugas y a sus nidos es el aumento en el nivel del mar así como temperaturas más altas en las playas del Atlántico. Las temperaturas en los nidos afectan significativamente el sexo de las tortugas; con el registro de temperaturas más altas se ha observado una gran reducción en el número de tortugas macho. El objetivo de WWF es proteger la ruta migratoria de la tortuga laúd, trabajando con pescadores para reducir la pesca incidental; proteger playas de anidación prioritarias y crear consciencia para que las comunidades locales ayuden a proteger a las tortugas y a sus nidos.

Atún de Aleta Azul
El atún de aleta azul (Thunnus thynnus) es un pez migratorio de gran tamaño que se encuentra en el Este y Oeste del Atlántico y en el Mar Mediterráneo. El atún de aleta azul es utilizado en la preparación de sushi de primera calidad. Muy cerca de colapsar, su especie está en alto riesgo de extinción si continúan las prácticas de pesca no sustentables en el Atlántico y en el Mediterráneo. La prohibición temporal del comercio internacional del atún de aleta azul podría permitir la recuperación de esta especie sobreexplotada. WWF está pidiendo a restaurantes, chefs, comerciantes y consumidores que dejen de ofrecer, comprar, vender y consumir atún de aleta azul hasta que demuestre signos de recuperación.

Gorila de Montaña
Los científicos consideran que el gorila de montaña (Gorilla beringei beringei) es una subespecie de gorila en peligro crítico de extinción, con solo 720 sobreviviendo en su hábitat natural. Más de 200 viven en el Parque Nacional Virunga, localizado en el Este de la República Democrática del Congo, en la frontera con Ruanda y Uganda. Conflictos de guerra en áreas cercanas al parque han aumentado su cacería y pérdida de su hábitat. Gracias a los esfuerzos de conservación durante los últimos 12 años en Virunga, la población de gorilas ha aumentado en 14%, así como en un 12%, en el bosque impenetrable de Bwindi, en Uganda, considerado el segundo hogar de estos gorilas.

Mariposa Monarca
Cada año millones de delicadas mariposas monarcas (Danaus plexippus) emigran de Canadá y del Norte de los Estados Unidos para pasar el invierno en los bosques de México. La conservación y protección efectiva del bosque de oyamel y pino de altitud en México es esencial para la supervivencia de los sitios de hibernación de las mariposas monarcas, lo que se ha reconocido como un fenómeno biológico en peligro de extinción. La protección de sus hábitats reproductivos en los Estados Unidos y Canadá, es igualmente crucial para salvar la migración de esta especie, considerado como uno de los fenómenos naturales más impresionantes del planeta.

WWF, en colaboración con el Fondo Mexicano para la Conservación de la Naturaleza, ha diseñado una estrategia de conservación innovadora para proteger y restaurar el hábitat de hibernación de las mariposas monarcas en México, a fin de que estén protegidas de climas extremos y otras amenazas. WWF está también apoyando a comunidades locales para establecer invernaderos de árboles que se han reintroducido a la reserva de la mariposa monarca, creando al mismo tiempo nuevas fuentes de ingreso para los dueños del bosque.

Rinoceronte de Java
Enlistado en estado crítico de extinción en la Lista Roja del UICN (2009), el rinoceronte de Java (Rhinoceros sondaicus) es considerado el mamífero más grande en peligro de extinción a nivel mundial; se conocen únicamente dos sitios donde este vive en su hábitat natural, con una población total de 60 animales. Cotizado a un alto precio por su uso en la medicina tradicional China, la población de los rinocerontes de Java también se ha disminuido por la conversión de su hábitat de bosque a campos agrícolas. WWF ha estado involucrado en la protección y conservación del rinoceronte de Java desde 1998, apoyando a guardabosques para aumentar el patrullaje y las actividades de protección, desarrollando sondeos de la población de rinocerontes, creando consciencia sobre la importancia de los rinocerontes entre las comunidades locales y apoyando el manejo y administración de parques. El mes pasado, con la ayuda de perros altamente entrenados para olfatear, WWF encontró huellas del único y extraño Rinoceronte de Java vietnamés, del cual se piensa que existen no más de doce ejemplares.

Panda Gigante
El panda gigante (Ailuropoda melanoleuca), símbolo internacional de conservación de WWF desde su fundación en 1961, enfrenta un futuro incierto, con menos de 2.500 ejemplares en su hábitat natural. Su hábitat forestal en las montañas Sud occidentales de China se ha fragmentado, ocasionando su separación y detrimento poblacional. WWF ha estado colaborando en la conservación del panda gigante durante casi tres décadas, conduciendo estudios de campo, trabajando en la protección de hábitats, y más recientemente, apoyando al Gobierno Chino en el establecimiento de un programa para la protección del panda y su hábitat a través de la creación de reservas.

Acerca de WWF
WWF Bolivia, la organización de conservación, tiene el objetivo de contribuir a la conservación de la Amazonia y el Pantanal, promover y generar oportunidades económicas sostenibles para sus habitantes y el país.

WWF trabaja por un planeta vivo y su misión es detener la degradación ambiental de la Tierra y construir un futuro en el que el ser humano viva en armonía con la naturaleza:

conservando la diversidad biológica mundial,
asegurando que el uso de los recursos naturales renovables sea sostenible y
promoviendo la reducción de la contaminación y del consumo desmedido.

Rhino poaching surges in Asia, Africa

2009-12-01

Geneva, Switzerland – Rhino poaching worldwide is on the rise, according to a new report by TRAFFIC and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

The trade is being driven by Asian demand for horns and is made worse by increasingly sophisticated poachers, who now are using veterinary drugs, poison, cross bows and high caliber weapons to kill rhinos, the report states.

Since 2006 the majority (95 percent) of the poaching in Africa has occurred in Zimbabwe and South Africa, according to new data.

“These two nations collectively form the epicentre of an unrelenting poaching crisis in southern Africa,” said Tom Milliken of TRAFFIC.

The report, which was submitted to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) ahead of its 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (CoP15) in March, documents a decline in law enforcement effectiveness and an increase in poaching intensity in Africa. The situation is most serious in Zimbabwe where rhino numbers are now declining and the conviction rate for rhino crimes in Zimbabwe is only three percent. Despite the introduction of a number of new measures, poaching and illicit horn trade in South Africa has also increased.

“Concerted action at the highest level is needed to stop this global crisis of rampant rhino poaching,” said Amanda Nickson, Director of the Species Programme at WWF International. “We call on the countries of concern to come to COP 15 in March with specific actions they have undertaken to show their commitment to stopping this poaching and protecting rhinos in the wild.”

The report also raises concerns regarding the low and declining numbers as well as the uncertain status of some of the Sumatran and Javan rhino populations in Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam.

“Sumatran and Javan rhino range countries need to increase efforts to better assess the current status of many of their rhino populations - to enhance field law enforcement efforts - prevent further encroachment and land transformation in rhino areas - and improve biological management of remaining rhinos to ensure the few remaining Sumatran and Javan Rhino numbers increase,” said Dr. Bibhab Kumar Talukdar, Chair of the IUCN/SSC Asian Rhino Specialist Group

Most rhino horns leaving southern Africa are destined for medicinal markets in southeast and east Asia, especially Vietnam, and also China. The report highlights Vietnam as a country of particular concern – noting that Vietnamese nationals operating in South Africa have recently been identified in rhino crime investigations. In addition, concern has been expressed about the status of Vietnam’s single Javan rhino population.

However, the report does note that in some areas populations of rhinos are increasing.

“Where there is political will, dedicated conservation programs and good law enforcement, rhino numbers have increased in both Africa and Asia,” said Dr Richard Emslie, Scientific Officer of IUCN’s African Rhino Specialist Group.

IUCN’s Rhino Specialist Groups and TRAFFIC were mandated to produce the report by CITES. The data collection and report writing for the report was partially funded by WWF and partners.

Illegal fishing agreement to push pirates out of ports

2009-11-27

Rome, Italy – A new international agreement to better control vessels in the world’s ports will cut off access to global markets for pirate fishers, responsible for fueling overfishing and the illegal seafood trade.

This week, states participating in the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) adopted an agreement on port control of vessels engaged in fishing and fish trade, which will greatly reduce illegal fishing.

The new Binding International Agreement on Port State Control Measures to Combat, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing (Port State Agreement) sets minimum standards for what every port state must do to prevent illegally caught fish from being offloaded and reaching global markets.

WWF applauds the FAO for ensuring that the Port State Agreement was successfully developed and adopted, and commends progressive member states such as Norway for encouraging the negotiation process for the past two years.

“The oceans are not a ‘free-for-all.’ This landmark agreement makes clear the responsibility of states to keep illegal fish from entering their ports;” said Miguel A. Jorge Director Marine Program at WWF International. “States serious about stamping out pirate fishing and preventing illegally caught seafood from reaching our dinner plates will sign on to this agreement quickly.”

The Port State Agreement was opened for signature on Nov. 23 during the FAO Annual Conference in Rome. Currently, 11 states including the European Union, Chile, Indonesia, Norway and the United States have signed the new treaty, an important first step to become a party to the agreement. In order to enter into force, 25 states need to become parties to the Port State Agreement.

Illegal fishing is one of the largest causes of overfishing and threatens the livelihoods of legitimate fishers and coastal communities. Current estimated value of financial losses because of illegal fishing worldwide is estimated at USD 10 billion to USD 23 billion annually.

Data shows illegal ivory trade on rise

2009-11-16

Cambridge, UK: The illicit trade in ivory, which has been increasing in volume since 2004, moved sharply upward in 2009, according to the latest analysis of seizure data in the Elephant Trade Information System (ETIS).

ETIS, one of the two monitoring systems for elephants under CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) but managed by TRAFFIC, holds the world’s largest collection of elephant product seizure records.

The analysis, undertaken in advance of the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (CoP15) to CITES, was based upon 14,364 elephant product seizure records from 85 countries or territories since 1989, nearly 2,000 more records than the previous analysis, in 2007.

The remarkable surge in 2009 reflects a series of large-scale ivory seizure events that suggest increased involvement of organized crime syndicates in the trade, connecting African source countries with Asian end-use markets. The ETIS data indicate that such syndicates have become stronger and more active over the last decade.

There continues to be a highly significant correlation between large-scale domestic ivory markets in Asia and Africa and poor law enforcement, suggesting that illicit ivory trade flows typically follow a path to destinations where law enforcement is weak and markets function with little regulatory impediment.

Indeed, the rise in illicit trade in ivory indicates that implementation of a CITES “action plan for the control of trade in African elephant ivory,” the Convention’s principal vehicle for closing such unregulated and illicit domestic markets in Africa and Asia, has failed to drive any significant change over the last five years.

The ETIS analysis identifies Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Thailand as the three countries most heavily implicated in the global illicit ivory trade. Illegal trade involving each of these nations has been repeatedly singled out for priority attention since the first assessment in 2002, but they continue to feature as critical hotspots in the trade as sources, entrêpots and consumers of ivory.

Another nine countries and territories—Cameroon, Gabon and Mozambique in Africa and Hong Kong SAR, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan and Vietnam in Asia—were also identified as important nodes in the illicit ivory trade.

China, which along with Japan was an approved destination of the legal, CITES-sanctioned one-off ivory sale in 2008, faces a persistent illegal trade challenge from Chinese nationals now based in Africa. Ongoing evidence highlights widespread involvement of overseas Chinese in the illicit procurement of ivory, a problem that needs to be addressed through an aggressive outreach and awareness initiative directed at Chinese communities living abroad.

The results are less clear-cut concerning the impacts of the CITES approved one-off ivory sales in 1999 and 2008.

Following the first such sale, in June 1999, there was a progressive decline in the illicit trade in ivory for five years, with no evidence to suggest that the sale had resulted in an increase in the illicit ivory trade globally.

After the second CITES-approved ivory sale, in late 2008, the results are unclear as to whether it has stimulated increase demand or whether it has simply coincided with an increase in supply that was already underway over the last four years. The collection of more data over an extended time period will throw further light on this vital issue.

The full ETIS report can be downloaded from the CITES website as document at http://www.cites.org/common/cop/15/doc/E15-44-01A.pdf

Atlantic bluefin trade ban now vital as tuna commission fails to take action again

2009-11-15

Porto de Galinhas, Brazil: The Atlantic tuna commission today came up with only inadequate or delayed actions to ensure the recovery of the eastern Atlantic bluefin tuna, global conservation organization WWF warned today. Saving the tuna will now depend largely on an international trade ban due to be discussed in March.

The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas today endorsed a proposal from its chair, the EU, Japan, Morocco and Tunisia to drop the 2010 eastern bluefin quota from 19,500 tonnes to 13,500 tonnes, still far too high to enable stock recovery.

A key study presented to ICCAT in Recife showed even a strictly enforced 8,000-tonne quota would have only a 50 per cent chance of achieving a recovery in eastern Atlantic bluefin tuna by 2023 and another ICCAT study showed only a total fishing halt yielded significant chances of the bluefin population to recover enough to no longer qualify for high-level trade restrictions by 2019.

It is now more than ever necessary for member countries of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) to line up behind global trade restrictions on Atlantic bluefin tuna. CITES is to consider a Principality of Monaco proposal that bluefin be listed for the highest level of trade restrictions at a meeting in Doha next March.

“Today’s outcome is entirely unscientific – and entirely unacceptable,” said Dr Sergi Tudela, Head of Fisheries at WWF Mediterranean. “This reduction of allowable catch is not based on any particular scientific advice to recover the stock with high probability – it is just an arbitrary political measure and only for one year. Now more than ever WWF sees a global trade ban as the only hope for Atlantic bluefin.”

Dr Tudela said a new provision for a 2011 fishery closure if the fishery was detected as being at serious risk of collapse was difficult to reconcile with the scientific committee’s recent data that the stocks are already at less than 10-15 per cent than unfished levels. “The trends for bluefin tuna are very clear and we need to act on the forward view rather than the rear mirror view to avoid collapse,” Dr Tudela said.

WWF had lobbied the meeting for a fishing suspension and determined action against illegal fishing, estimated to considerably inflate the most recent (2008) catch estimates of 34,120 tonnes. During the Recife meeting almost all harvesting countries were formally identified by ICCAT for breaking its rules – like EU tuna fattening farms accepting fish without proper documentation.

The massive overcapacity of industrial fleets in the Mediterranean also continues to hamper conservation efforts, yet the problem remains insufficiently addressed by the tuna commission.

The season for industrial fishing for bluefin tuna with purse seine fleets was reduced from two months to one, but remains open during the peak of the spawning period of 15 May to 15 June when the tuna are most vulnerable. ICCAT also continued to ignore long-standing calls to establish sanctuaries in key bluefin tuna spawning grounds such as the Balearic Islands off Spain.

“Common sense says that a trade ban supported by a temporary fishing closure is currently what is needed for the recovery of Atlantic tuna,” Dr Tudela said. “To close the fishery is what ICCAT needed to do to save the tuna and to save its own reputation.”

Dr Tudela called on CITES member countries “not to be fooled by ICCAT’s promises to save Atlantic bluefin tuna in the coming years. We have seen too many empty promises in ICCAT’s forty years of not conserving tuna. The tuna commission has failed in the most crucial moment of its history – how can it be expected of anything better? Now is the time for action elsewhere”.

Adding more fuel to the compelling case of ICCAT’s overall failure, contracting parties endorsed a further two years of the use by Morocco of illegal driftnets to catch swordfish. The nets, known widely as ‘walls of death’, kill 4,000 dolphins and 25,000 sharks in Mediterranean waters every year.

Bans on driftnets are covered in a large array of international agreements dating back to 1992 and including the UN, ICCAT, the EU which is the main market for the Moroccan swordfish, and Morocco itself.

“This year all contracting parties talked of the need to restore ICCAT’s credibility, and to do so they endorse the slaughter of 50,000 more sharks and 8,000 dolphins, violating UN resolutions? It is beyond belief, and is one more proof of the total dysfunction of ICCAT as a serious fisheries management organization,” said Dr Tudela.

ICCAT was also unable to agree on substantial measures to protect vulnerable shark species.

Mediterranean bluefin catches continue to mock quotas and science

2009-11-12

Porto de Galinhas, Brazil: New bluefin tuna catch estimates show Mediterranean fishing fleets continuing to make a mockery of fishing quotas set by the beleaguered Atlantic tuna commission.

The new catch estimates – themselves likely to severely underestimate the effect of continuing rampant illegal fishing – are also around four times the level scientists estimate would give the collapsing tuna population only limited chances of recovery over a time span of more than a decade.

Scientists attached to the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) estimated the 2008 bluefin catch at 34,120 tonnes, well over last year’s quota of 28,500 tonnes set under the discredited 2006 ICCAT “recovery plan”.

Last year, ICCAT set a 22,000-tonne catch quota for 2009 in a controversial response to its scientists’ recommendations for a quota as low as 8,500 tonnes.

The new estimates come as ICCAT considers radical amendments to management measures in the face of rising calls for an international trade ban on Atlantic bluefin tuna and a supporting suspension of the fishery.

“New estimates lodged with ICCAT’s science committee show that one quarter of the latest estimated bluefin tuna catch would give us just a toss of the coin chance of recovering the tuna population by 2023,” said Dr Sergi Tudela, WWF Mediterranean.

Dr Tudela said he believed the latest estimates themselves were well under the real catch.

“To accept these figures at face value we have to accept a huge reduction in the amount of illegal fishing over the previous year,” he said. “I just don’t see the evidence or the reasoning for this miraculous drop in illegal fishing, while there is abundant evidence that pirate fishing remains rampant.”

ICCAT’s scientific committee notes that the estimates take no account of illegal fishing by unregistered boats.

The French navy reported dubious catch data and a lack of observers in intercepted Turkish bluefin boats, investigations are underway into the reflagging of vessels in Algerian waters and a Spanish study revealed laundering of undersize tuna through tuna fattening farms for the Japanese fresh tuna trade.

Opening the ICCAT meeting, chair Dr Fabio Hazin of Brazil said ICCAT had to set up “an efficient mechanism for the monitoring and control of the fishing fleets” and capable of “applying penalties proportional to the infringements detected”.

“We have been very much able to impose sanctions on non-members in the past and time has also come for ICCAT to show it does not have double standards, and that it is equally determined to also impose sanctions on its members in the same way it does with non-members,” he said.

Romanians protest lift of sturgeon fishing ban

2009-11-12

Bucharest, Romania – A government decision to overturn a ten-year ban on the fishing of wild sturgeon in the Danube River basin drew protests in the capital this week, led by WWF and a contingent of local NGOs.

The controversial legislation, allowing sturgeon fishing for purposes other than restocking, was adopted in September by the Agriculture and Environment Committees of the Romanian Parliament. The new law in effect legalizes fishing of sturgeons for commercial purposes.

Meanwhile, some Romanian politicians are calling for the elimination of the current ban on gillnet and trawler fishing in the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve.

To counter this destructive decision, 34 Romanian environmental NGOs, including “Save the Delta” Association and WWF, organized a bitter protest in the Romanian capital Bucharest on Tuesday.

“The new fishing law practically throws away the EUR 4 billion spent by the Romanian Government for the sturgeon restocking programme, which was developed during the last four years,” said Luminița Tănasie, Director of WWF Danube-Carpathian Programme Romania. “If the 200,000 young sturgeons which were bought for restocking the Danube, are not given the necessary time to mature and reproduce naturally, the sturgeon fisheries will not be able to recover, and both the economical and the ecological loss will be enormous.”

In front of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forests and Rural Development building in Bucharest, protesters on Tuesday held a “sturgeon fair”, offering the public the opportunity to view sturgeons caught in a fishing gillnet. Environmentalists also displayed the photographs of the MPs who proposed the amendments.

At the end of the protest, the sturgeons were sent to the MPs. The MPs who proposed the elimination of the ban on gillnets and trawlers within the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve received the gillnet used during the protest. Each of the MPs also received a letter of protest signed by the 34 participating NGOs, asking them to reconsider their actions and adopt new legislation.

Scientific reports indicate that among the sturgeon species which populate Romanian waters, are the critically endangered (possibly extinct) Ship Sturgeons, the endangered Russian and Beluga Sturgeons, as well as the Sterlet Sturgeon, considered to be vulnerable.

The Black Sea once harboured some of the most productive sturgeon populations. However, research on age structure of sturgeons captured in Romania has revealed a critical decrease in the number of sturgeons born during 1990–99 that survived to sustain the population.

Sturgeons are fished mainly for caviar, although their meat and skin are also widely used in the region. Poorly regulated fisheries have caused severe decline in populations due to overfishing, which almost entirely disrupted the fish species' natural spawning in the Danube River.

Due to concern about the sustainability of international trade in sturgeon caviar and meat, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) has been regulating such trade in all sturgeon species since 1998 and has, from time to time, been forced to recommend trade suspensions.

Fishing of sturgeons for commercial purposes was banned in Romania in 2006 for a period of ten years. The relatively long period of prohibition is explained by the long life cycle of the sturgeon (the maximum age being between 24 and 100 years), by the long period necessary for the sturgeon to reach reproductive age (between 6 and 26 years), and by the fact that the sturgeon does not reproduce every year.

The letter of protest was also sent to the Romanian President Traian Băsescu, to the Interim Prime Minister Emil Boc, to the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR), to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora and to the Romanian National Commission to UNESCO.

Palm oil roundtable breaks emissions logjam

2009-11-05

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Members of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil this week agreed to consider implementing voluntary measures to encourage producers and buyers of palm oil to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.

The Roundtable’s 7th annual conference came to a close Wednesday in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Titled “Moving Ahead in Challenging Times,” the three-day conference drew more than 800 people from inside and outside of the palm oil industry, including buyers and producers.

After several rounds of heated discussion this week, the Roundtable’s Executive Board reached a compromise in which some emissions reduction requirements will be directly incorporated in the Roundtable’s certification standards.

They agreed to further address the issue and hammer out emissions measures related to land use change before the next Roundtable conference in 2010. To this end, they will develop a voluntary framework within which companies will work together to reduce emissions.

This objective received considerable support by producers from outside Malaysia and Indonesia who said they will use this voluntary standard as soon as it becomes available, while committing to stop the expansion of plantations on peat lands.

“This is a move in the right direction,” said Adam Harrison, WWF’s representative on the RSPO Executive Board. “We encourage companies to embrace emissions reduction standards once they become available and do their part to avoid the catastrophic effects of climate change.”

The conference also focused on the frustration by producers concerning the slow uptake of certified sustainable palm oil by buyers. The sluggish market prompted WWF to publish the Palm Oil Buyers’ Scorecard on Oct. 28, a project that assessed the performance of 59 European retailers and manufacturers buying palm oil.

The Scorecard showed that the majority of European palm oil buyers are failing to buy certified sustainable palm oil, despite its availability and the previous commitments by many companies to purchase it.

The Scorecard was presented and widely discussed at the conference. It was praised by producers and buyers alike as a positive vehicle for bringing much needed transparency to this growing market and showing companies buying palm oil that they are expected to do their part in transforming the palm oil market.

The growing demand for palm oil is adding to the already severe pressure on remaining rainforest areas of the world. The loss of forest in Indonesia is threatening the survival of species such as the orang-utan, the Sumatran tiger, rhino and elephant. Forest loss and the draining of peatlands for palm oil plantations is also contributing to climate change and displacing local people who rely on the forest for food and shelter. Palm oil is one of the world’s fastest expanding crops in Southeast Asia as well as West Africa and South America.

It is because of threats like this that WWF worked with other NGOs and the palm oil industry to set up the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) in 2003. Since then WWF has worked with the industry to ensure that the RSPO standards contain robust social and environmental criteria, including a prohibition on the conversion of valuable forests. Certified Sustainable Palm Oil has been available since November 2008 and provides assurance that valuable tropical forests have not been cleared and that environmental and social safeguards have been met during the production of the palm oil.

WWF opted to grade palm oil buyers after releasing figures in May showing that only a small percentage of the sustainable palm oil available on the market had been bought. Since then, the situation is starting to improve. Over the last year, RSPO certified plantations have produced over 1,000,000 tonnes of certified sustainable palm oil (CSPO), and over 250,000 tonnes have been sold to date. While this still represents only 22 percent of the available supply on average, the RSPO has reported that CSPO sales have been growing in recent months.