BUSINESS SUPPORTS EFFORTS TO SAVE TUNA,
CALLS ON GOVERNMENTS TO TAKE ACTION

Posted on 24 November 2010
Paris, France - Leading businesses signed up to WWF’s Tuna Market Manifesto pledging not to buy or sell Atlantic and Mediterranean bluefin tuna in a move aimed at helping the species recover from overfishing.

The companies backing the campaign have also joined WWF in calling on governments, currently meeting for key talks of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) in Paris, to take urgent action and help the species to recover.

The Tuna Market Manifesto, presented Wednesday morning to ICCAT chairman Fabio Hazin during tuna management discussions in Paris, states that the businesses will give Atlantic bluefin tuna a break until fishing is being sustainably managed by ICCAT and the species population is recovering.

Mismanagement and overfishing – especially in the Mediteranean Sea – have led to decades of overexploitation and brought eastern Atlantic bluefin tuna, admired by sushi lovers, to the brink of collapse.

“The global business world is standing up for sustainable seafood and in increasing numbers is refusing to trade in endangered Atlantic and Mediterranean bluefin tuna until the fishery is being managed in a responsible manner and the species is recovering,” said Dr Sergi Tudela, Head of Fisheries at WWF Mediterranean. “WWF applauds this bold stance from the private sector and encourages other businesses to sign up.”

While ICCAT failed for four decades to manage the constantly shrinking tuna stocks, businesses including Carrefour, Ikea, Sodexo, famous sushi restaurant chains itsu and Moshi Moshi – and many others – have decided to make that step themselves.

“The Carrefour Group will not sell Atlantic bluefin tuna in any of its outlets around the world until the fisheries are being managed in a way that will allow the tuna to recover,” said Hervé Gomichon, Quality Manager at the Carrefour Group.

“Our interest is in responsible commerce – conducting business in a sustainable way that does not deplete natural resources but allows future generations to live on the planet comfortably. Carrefour joins WWF in urging ICCAT to put in place drastic measures that will enable a moderate consumption of Atlantic bluefin tuna long into the future.”

WWF is calling on governments to set an end to rule-bending and impunity for illegal fishing. The global conservation group is urging ICCAT member governments to put in place a robust, science-based management plan that will allow Atlantic bluefin tuna to recover.

Specifically, WWF urges ICCAT to cut total catch of bluefin tuna in the Mediterranean from the current 13,500 tonnes per year to between 0 and 6,000 tonnes, and to allocate the remaining catch to artisanal fishing fleets. Destructive industrial purse seine fleets and fattening farms in the Mediterranean must be urgently phased out, and no-fishing sanctuaries should be established in the six known spawning grounds for the species in the Mediterranean Sea.

The following companies support WWF’s Tuna Market Manifesto:

CARREFOUR • IKEA • SODEXO • DELHAIZE • FAIRMONT • LOBLAWS
SUSHI TAXI • ATAC • AUCHAN • AUGUSTE • CASINO • ELIOR
EUROTOQUES • RELAIS & CHATEAUX • RELAIS DU PARC • SIMPLY MARKET
EDEKA • GOTTFRIED FRIEDRICHS • YAGURA, EATON HOTEL • COOP ITALIA
CENTER PARCS • ICA • COOP NORWAY • EROSKI • MEMENTO
BRASCHLER BIANCHI • BELL SEAFOOD • COOP SWITZERLAND • DYHRBERG
MIGROS • DÖRIG & BRANDL • MARINEX • OSPELT FOOD • ULTRA MARINE FOOD
GEORGE KNIGHT • ITSU • LONDON 2012 OLYMPIC COMMITTEE
M&J • MOSHI MOSHI • MOURNE SEAFOOD • PRET A MANGER

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Historic tiger summit closes with plans to secure more financial backing

Posted on 24 November 2010
St. Petersburg, Russia: The historic International Tiger Conservation Forum ended today with crucial plans to discuss further financing options for the Global Tiger Recovery Programme approved at the meeting, kick-starting new efforts to double the number of wild tigers.

On the final day of the summit, delegates met briefly to hammer out key dates in the coming year to reach final agreement on how to pay for and monitor the recovery plan. This followed the endorsement on Tuesday of the Programme and a Leader’s Declaration by heads of government and tiger range countries.

“This summit has created the high level government backing that we needed to create a platform to immediately reverse the decline of wild tigers which is threatening them with extinction,” said Michael Baltzer, head of WWF’s Tigers Alive initiative. “We need governments to lead the charge forward and maintain this political enthusiasm and intensity – because the tiger cannot wait for our help.”

The 13 tiger range countries will meet during the next six months to secure more cash for the recovery plan and will finalize the long-term financing of the plan in July. They will meet again in December 2011 to monitor how well the 12-year-plan to save tigers is working.

At the summit, WWF committed to spend USD 50 million over the next five years on tiger conservation, and set a goal of increasing that to USD 85 million. The global conservation organization also released its plans to support the government’s commitments to save tigers.

Hosted by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, governments capped a year-long political process on Tuesday with about USD 127 million in new funding to support the plan, known as the Global Tiger Recovery Programme. In addition, funding will include a large loan package from the World Bank to some tiger range countries, and millions in additional grants from the Global Environment Facility.

Other heads of government attended the summit, from Bangladesh, China, Laos and Nepal.

The Global Tiger Recovery Programme was developed by countries that have tigers, which took more than a year to put together, and lays out a comprehensive set of actions to help tigers recover from decades of poaching and destruction of their forest homes.

The cost of the initial stage of the recovery programme, prepared by the tiger range countries with support from the Global Tiger Initiative of the World Bank, the Global Environment Facility and other tiger conservation partners including WWF, has been largely covered by the tiger range countries themselves, but USD 350 Million is needed from the international community.