Posted on
15 March 2010
WWF welcomes Indonesian moratorium on new
trawl and purse seine fisheries licenses
but an immediate reduction in fishing efforts
is needed in order to protect the Coral
Triangle, the world’s most diverse marine
environment.
Trawling and purse seine
fisheries have become a problematic issue
in Indonesia, strongly contributing to the
overfishing of mostly fully exploited juvenile
tunas, and illegal, unregulated and unreported
fishing in the area (IUU).
“This moratorium on
new fishing licenses for trawlers and purse
seiners will certainly stop the bleeding
but not the wound, so to speak. A reduction
in current fishing capacity is key to addressing
problems of overfishing and bycatch of juvenile
tunas in the Coral Triangle” says Dr. Lida
Pet-Soede, WWF Coral Triangle Programme
Head.
Tuna is an important
fishing resource in Coral Triangle as it
supports the economies of many developing
nations and represents the livelihoods of
millions of people in this region and beyond.
The region contains
spawning and nursery grounds and migratory
routes for commercially-valuable tuna species
such as bigeye, yellowfin, skipjack and
albacore, producing more than 40% of the
total catch for the Western Central Pacific
region, and representing more than 20% of
the global catch.
As of 2007, more than
10,000 trawlers and 22,000 purse seiners
have been found in Indonesian waters.
‘These existing fishing
fleets are highly capable of bringing already
fully exploited fish stocks to an even greater
overfished state’ adds Dr. Pet-Soede.
‘We would also like
to seek further clarification on the criteria
being used to determine stock recovery and
how this is will be evaluated. WWF is willing
to participate and contribute to this process.’
Trawling, which can
catch as much as 30 tons of fish in a single
operation, was banned nationally in 1980
but was once again made legal two years
later, specifically in the Arafuru Seas
in Papua.
In 2008, a regulation
to allow shrimp trawling in the East Kalimantan
province was issued.
Today, demersal fish
stocks and shrimp are fully exploited and
overfished in the Arafuru Seas. Similar
results have occurred in the Flores Seas
and Makassar Strait in East Kalimantan.
Purse seining has likewise
become an issue in Indonesian fisheries.
As much as 57% of skipjack, 71% of yellowfin
and 75% of bigeye tunas caught by Indonesian
purse seiners are juvenile and fully exploited.
Purse seining of small
pelagic fish, or free swimming open ocean
species like Skipjack tuna and sardines
in Indonesia accounts for as much as 80%
of the total catch in the Western and Central
Pacific Ocean. This however also includes
big pelagic fish, which have been overfished
in the Sulawesi Seas and Pacific Ocean.
Pelagic fish, both big and small, have now
been classified as fully exploited in Indonesia.
+ More
Porous China-Myanmar
border allowing illegal wildlife trade
Posted on 16 March 2010
Doha, Qatar — Porous borders are allowing
vendors in Myanmar to offer a door-to-door
delivery service for illegal wildlife products
such as tiger bone wine to buyers in China,
according to TRAFFIC’s latest snapshot into
wildlife trade in China.
The State of Wildlife
Trade in China 2008, released this week,
is the third in an annual series on emerging
trends in China’s wildlife trade.
The report found that
over-exploitation of wildlife for trade
has affected many species and is stimulating
illegal trade across China’s borders.
“China’s border areas
have long been considered a hotbed for illegal
trade, with remote locations often making
surveillance a difficult problem in sparsely
populated areas,” said Professor Xu Hongfa,
Director of TRAFFIC’s programme in China
The illegal trade in
Asian big cat products is a key issue at
the Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora
(CITES) meeting, which began on 13 March
and runs until 26 March.
The meeting is taking
place in Doha, Qatar, where 175 countries
will vote on measures that, if properly
enforced, can end illegal tiger trade for
good. Tigers are especially in the spotlight
during this Year of the Tiger in the Chinese
lunar calendar.
“Both TRAFFIC and WWF
will be encouraging CITES Parties to enforce
the law effectively in their own countries
in order to end all illegal trade,” said
Colman O’Criodain, Wildlife Trade Analyst,
WWF International.
Tiger and leopard parts
were also found openly for sale in western
China, although market surveys in 18 cities
found just two places where such items were
encountered. One of them—Bei Da Jie Market
in Linxia city—has a history of trading
in tiger products. There, a total of five
surveys between late 2007 and 2008 found
one tiger, 15 leopard and seven snow leopard
skins for sale.
“There is clearly ongoing
demand for leopard and tiger products, but
the trade appears to be becoming less visible
year-on-year,” said Professor Xu, adding
that it is unclear if it is because there
is less trade in such products or it has
become more covert and organized.
The report also examines
the trade of other wildlife species in China.
In southern China, TRAFFIC identified 26
species of freshwater turtles for sale.
The majority of animals were claimed by
vendors to be supplied from freshwater turtle
farms—many of which do not practice closed-cycle
captive breeding and therefore rely on wild-sourced
breeding stock.
“If no action is taken,
sourcing from the wild coupled with increased
captive production to meet an expanding
market demand will pose a serious threat
to wild species through unsustainable harvesting
from wild populations in China and beyond,”
said Professor Xu.
The report also highlights
research into the legality of timber imported
into China from source countries in Africa
and South-East Asia, noting up to 30% discrepancies
between reported import and export timber
volumes.
Other topics covered
include sustainable utilization of traditional
medicinal plants, analysis of wildlife trade
information, the Corallium trade in East
Asia, tackling cross-border illegal wildlife
trade on the China-Nepal border, and stopping
illegal wildlife trade online.
