Treating Sharks like Pests - Paper!

Source.

This is awesome.

In the past, I've not been kind to Steven Campana.

Back then he was working for Fisheries and Oceans Canada and was very much trotting the party line - voluntarily or more likely not.

Now he's in Iceland.

And there has obviously been a remarkable evolution, as witnessed by his blistering attack on the unsustainable fishing practices in the North Atlantic and especially, on the responsible irresponsible transnational management agency ICCAT.

And yes thank you Japan!

Full paper here, synopsis here.

Required reading for everybody!

ICCAT - some Progess!

Silkies in, I believe, Malpelo - awesome!

Not Success, as the Pew bemoans?
As always, that really depends on the the POV and having had no big expectations, I am quite pleasantly surprised!

The fact is that they are now protecting the Silkies which is great.
Yes many other species undoubtedly do need better protection (good report here!) but once again, conservation is very much a step-by-step process whereby one has to be willing to (grudgingly) accept compromises and also, to acknowledge the realities on the ground - including the ever-present political shenanigans!
But I agree, no progress on the issue of limiting bycatch despite of plenty of highly viable alternatives and also, the failure of tightening the finning regulations are indeed a disappointment.

Which brings me straight over to the Bluefins.
In the context of ICCAT, Sharks are really little more than a side distraction. The real issues at hand are the management of maybe the fisheries for Billfishes (including the non-endangered Swordfish) but above all, that of the endangered Northern Bluefin Tuna. More details about the status of those Fishes right here.
As anticipated, there has not been any revision to the TAC but instead, the attention has been focused on curtailing the widespread shenanigans which is a good thing and very much conducive to reducing the numbers of Tuna that are actually being landed.

So although not being happy, I am quite satisfied.
Yes much remains to be done but at least the direction continues to remain the correct one!

More details on the measures here.

Porbeagles - excellent News!

Simply stellar picture by the always masterful Doug Perrine!

Well, I hope I'm right here.
I've obviously missed quite a bit whilst strutting around at DEMA - but it appears that in the meantime, Europe has decided to fully protect the Porbeagle which would of course be brilliant. So far, all I can find are several re-posts, e.g. here, of an announcement by Oceana and nothing by the European Fisheries Commission - but let's take that at face value and rejoice!

Which brings be straight back to my post about ICCAT.
Those folks are conferring as we speak and with the above in mind, things look of course alot better for the proposed retention ban for Porbeagles.
Fingers crossed!

The Tuna?
Very much like I said then, I really anticipate no change in TAC, the more as this is also the position of the Commission. BUT, I also discern a strong commitment for enforcing the exact quotas by curtailing the widespread shenanigans, meaning that if properly implemented, the actual number of caught Tuna would drop dramatically, see that post and the analysis by Pew. At the end of the day, that is what really counts and it would undoubtedly be a huge step in the right direction.

Long story short? No need for conservation triage - quite yet!
Still very much on track for collecting that fine bottle of wine Mr. P!

November!

Graphic by Pew - click for detail.

It's that time of the year again!
ICCAT is meeting in Istanbul, the economy is still fucked, actually probably more than ever, and consequently, my hopes remain dim, at least when it comes to the Tuna (read this!).
The good people at Pew have produced an excellent report (do download and read the PdF!) that illustrates how widespread IUU in the Mediterranean (under- and non reporting, poaching, fraud and the illegal use of drift nets by the Italians, etc) has led to total catches of at least double the official quotas.

Not into reading?
Here's what I'm talking about - and remember this post?
Watch out for the puny tuna coming out of the hold - shocking!



And what about the Sharks?
In comparison to the Tuna, they are not really of any economic importance and consequently, I remain hopeful that ICCAT will decide something positive, be it only to distract from what I fear will be another fiasco for the Tuna - or do you really believe that in this economy and amid those political upheavals, Berlusconi is going to direct the police to go and arrest those poaching fishermen!

Take a look at the recommendations by Pew.
As always, they are totally well researched and make total sense - and as always, I fear, they will not be heeded. I however remain hopeful for Shark protection, tho fully protecting the Porbeagle that is a food fish is probably going to be ambitious. A moratorium and then, strictly monitored and enforced (I know I know...) science based quotas like suggested for the Mako would certainly be a good step in the right direction. And the fin removal ban clause would be really nice and does not look impossible at all.
There's of course much more to do - see the recommendations by the Shark Alliance!

And what about ending the overfishing of the Tuna and Billfishes?
Hmmmmmmmm - but hope, as they say, springs eternal.

Best of luck to Pew - I know they're gonna try their best!

Paris - Realpolitik!

I trust you know that the western hemisphere economies are broken.

With the exception of some micro states with special circumstances and Germany that has successfully re-routed its exports to Asia, everybody else is in a terrible mess, with no real end in sight.
The bailouts amount to nothing more than kicking the can further down the road when the billions will have to be re-paid, and the clamoring for austerity and re-balancing of the budgets can really only have one immediate effect: more joblessness that may even become structural, less consumption and consequently, an even slower economic recovery.
I was in the USA when the GOP conquered congress and had to laugh at the hypocritical bipartisan pledges of no earmarks (great, but will the budget be trimmed by those amounts? Take a wild guess!) whilst the three Big deficit Gorillas, Defense, Medicaid and Medicare were studiously never mentioned.
Heed my words: whenever anybody will stand up and suggest some real cuts, some opponent will utter the magic word jobs!, and Tea Party or no Tea Party, nothing substantive will ever happen!
Wanna bet?

Politics on a conservation blog?
Thing is, conservation does not happen in a political vacuum, ever.
Like it or not, this is the current economical and above all, political backdrop and any measures where anybody can stand up and shout jobs! are bound to fail from the outset.

Take the fatally stalled US Shark finning bill and you can see where I’m coming from.
Or take Europe: Greece, now Ireland, soon Portugal and Spain, possibly Belgium and Italy: more austerity, more riots, more job losses – not to mention a weakening of European solidarity and the Euro. Did you really think that Sarkozy who barely survived a popular uprising where twenty-year-olds rioted against a pension reform that would only affect them in half a century (!) would take the political risk of pitching conservation against perceived job losses and riots by the tuna fishermen?

With that in mind, ICCAT has been a roaring success!
You can read the outcome for Sharks in this informative post by Richard and for once, I do not totally concur with his assessment that the news is equally good and bad: with the exception of Porbeagles, a tiny food (as opposed to fin) fisheries where Canada successfully shouted jobs!, most of the proposed measures did pass, albeit with some exemptions which IMO are only fair in the case of Hammerheads and rather irrelevant long term in the case of Shortfin Makos.

Leaves the only truly negative and highly disturbing outcome which is the defeat of a finning ban.
Very sad indeed but as Richard points out, several countries are trying to enact local finning bans and if so and if drafted properly, see Hawaii, that will hopefully severely curtail the possibility of offloading fins caught offshore.
Fingers crossed!

Compare that to Doha and everybody should stop pouting and instead rejoice – and bravo Sonja for setting the right tone!

Tuna? Not good!
But then again, taking into account the current economical and political backdrop and after Europe changed its position (jobs!), I expected zero and am thus both totally surprised and happy about the tiny quota reduction!

Plus, there is a secret weapon: the formidable Maria Damanaki!
I totally like her commitment to sustainable fisheries and in view of the recent brilliant investigative report (brilliant technical platform, too!) that has uncovered blatant underreporting, overfishing, poaching and widespread scams in the Mediterranean Tuna fisheries, the European Fisheries Commission has ample scope for enforcing the quotas and prosecuting the perpetrators - and by doing that, for substantially reducing the amount of Tuna that are being effectively caught!


And I have no doubt that Mrs. Damanaki will do just that, as she has already announced in admirably politically correct lingo!
And... she may have an equally formidable and totally unexpected ally: Japan(!) who wants to put an end to the illegal shenanigans - and if you don’t believe me, read the abovementioned investigative report and do your own due diligence on Google, also with regards to the reviled Mitsubishi Corporation!

You can find the list of relevant decisions here and you will notice several important and largely unreported technical measures aimed at achieving better transparency. All-in all, as Damanaki says, it’s a step in the right direction.
Yes much remains to be done – but I believe that conservation and the need for sustainable fisheries remain squarely on the table, and that’s a good thing.

So, here’s a toast to the victory for the Sharks!

Hat tip: the truly unequaled, and obviously blissfully unrepentant Elizabeth Griffin Wilson of African Elephant fame, for teaching us that "If you took those sharks (caught in the Atlantic in 2008) and lined them up, they would stretch from Washington D.C. to Los Angeles, and that's just (in) one year"
Wow!

Shark Media: Love. Not Loss.

I actually wanted to blog about something completely different.

I wanted to write a post about the fabulous outcome of COP 10.
This is really a remarkable result, especially considering the current economical, and thus political circumstances. The decision to expand nature reserves to 17% of the world's land and 10% of the planet's waters and Japan's pledge of USD 2bn for biodiversity are great and need to be applauded - at least til tomorrow, then the professional whingers will undoubtedly start moaning about how it's not quite enough.

Sure beats the news out of the European union where the Mediterranean states (thank you Malta!) are already trying to torpedo Europe's stance at the upcoming ICCAT meeting, this against the stated intentions of their new and I believe, brilliant Fisheries Commissioner Maria Damanaki! Thankfully, Maria isn't taking that laying down, so fingers crossed that the end result will be equally positive!
As to the meeting itself... some people may want to re-read this.

Anyway, that's what I wanted to post about.
But in researching the biodiversity topic, I literally stumbled upon this remarkable video.

Totally true!
I spare you the links, but I've been blogging quite a bit about my dislike of a specific brand of pro-Shark videos that I find overly melodramatic and gory. Looks like others with much more specific know how agree, especially with respect to the stupid and rather revolting "shock ads" and shock campaigns.

The correct way?
Look no further than the BBC whose iconic images remain the pretty much unequaled standard for excellent, moving and truthful animal documentaries. Or when it comes to written statements, check out this latest feature about Wolfgang (Shark whisperer huh... somebody aint gonna be amused...) where his love of the animals is all-pervasive.
That's how you do it!

So here's to more smart Shark media!

Med Tuna Fisheries closed!

Betcha you remember this!

Well, as I said, not all hope is lost!
The much-reviled European Fisheries Commission has closed the Mediterranean Tuna fisheries one week early - much like they did last year! The situation of the Northern Bluefin continues to be dire and the Gulf oil spill has likely made things even worse (read this!) - still, this is good news as it clearly illustrates the desire to enforce sustainable fisheries.
As is this - and I may add, very much contrary to these shenanigans!

The equally reviled ICCAT will meet in Paris this November, this after a host of preparatory meetings.
This is the body that has the mandate, and contrary to CITES, the know how to regulate the Atlantic Tuna fisheries. Members here. The fisheries in the Mediterranean are regulated by the GFCM - members here.

Has anybody started talking to them - inclusive of talking to Japan?
And even more importantly: is anybody stepping forward with ideas and funds aimed at mitigating the impact of possible quota reductions, especially when it comes to the poorer African and Caribbean countries - oh, and Greece? All whilst wielding the stick, as in leveraging development aid?

All kidding aside: has anybody learned the lessons of Doha and developed a realistic, and above all, unified strategy - or will the NGOs continue to be naive, badly prepared and fragmented, only to incur yet another inevitable defeat?

We shall see!