12 Sep 2008 - Rome,
Italy – Calling the management of the Mediterranean
bluefin tuna fishery “an international disgrace”,
a high level review
has called for an immediate suspension of
fishing.
The still confidential
review, commissioned last November by the
International Commission for the Conservation
of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), says the suspension
should remain in force until the fishing
nations that make up the members of ICCAT
show that they “can control and report on
their catch”.
Failing that, the ICCAT
Performance Review recommends that ICCAT's
own secretariat take over the responsibility
for catch auditing and inspection.
The fishing ban should
cover tuna caught for fattening in farms
and ICCAT should consider “an immediate
closure of all known spawning grounds at
least during known spawning periods”, the
review said.
The review was chaired
by Glenn Hurry, Chief Executive Officer
of the Australian Fisheries Management Authority
and current Chair of the Western and Central
Pacific Fisheries Commission.
Moritaka Hayashi, Professor Emeritus of
International Law at Japan’s Waseda University,
and Canadian international fisheries scientist
Jean-Jacques Maguire, were the other members
of the “independent” review established
to follow “transparent procedures” in reviewing
ICCAT.
Mr Hurry and his fellow
commissioners noted that “the judgement
of the international community will be based
largely on how ICCAT manages fisheries on
bluefin tuna” and concluded that “the international
community which has entrusted the management
of this iconic species to ICCAT deserves
better performance from ICCAT than it has
received to date”.
"collapse could
be a real possibility"
ICCAT also drew criticism
for “how little information and data are
available” on bluefin tuna with the independent
review nevertheless saying that despite
the missing information “there are indications
that collapse could be a real possibility
in the foreseeable future, particularly
in the East Atlantic and Mediterranean.”
“Such staggering conclusions
from independent experts only reinforce
what WWF has been saying for years – this
is a fishery grossly out of control,” said
Dr Sergi Tudela, Head of Fisheries at WWF
Mediterranean.
The report cites the
“the under-reporting, mis-reporting and
non-reporting” by Contracting Parties of
Mediterranean catches, large takes of juvenile
fish and large spawning tuna, the fishing
in former refuges and the continued expansion
of the industrial fishing fleet.
“ICCAT Contracting Parties’
performance in managing fisheries on bluefin
tuna, particularly in the eastern Atlantic
and Mediterranean Sea, is widely regarded
as an international disgrace,” states the
review.
It notes an estimated 2007 catch of up to
60,000 tonnes, more than double the legal
catch of 29,500 tonnes and disastrously
more than the scientific assessment of a
sustainable catch of no more than 15,000
tonnes, saying “It is difficult to describe
this as responsible fisheries management.”
The review panel justified
its draconian recommendations saying that
“with the fishing activity largely unregulated,
the stock possibly at the point of collapse
and (Contracting Parties) either unable
or unwilling to force their industries to
comply, few options for recommendations
were available”.
ICCAT Chair Fabio Hazin
has urged parties to “be prepared” to discuss
the report at ICCAT's forthcoming meeting
in Marrakech in November.
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The Global Forest &
Trade Network Workshop in Laos
15 Sep 2008 - Vientiane
Capital – With Lao PDR’s forestry sector
booming in the midst of unprecedented national
and regional economic development the Lao
National Chamber of Commerce and Industry
in collaboration with World Wide Fund for
Nature (WWF) is facilitating the first Global
Forest and Trade Network-Laos (GFTN-Laos)
workshop tomorrow, Tuesday September 16th,
at Lao Plaza. The workshop will bring together
timber sector stakeholders to explore the
benefits of gaining Forest Stewardship Council
(FSC) certification under GFTN-Laos membership.
The GFTN is a WWF initiative
to eliminate illegal logging and timber
trading and improve the management of valuable
and threatened forests. The Lao PDR chapter
of GFTN, GFTN-Laos, provide timber producers
and processors with a framework within which
they can achieve FSC certification and make
trade links with a global network of responsible
buyers, helping stimulate an economically
bouyant and environmentally sound forest
industry within Lao PDR.
GFTN General Director
Richard McLellan has travelled from Gland,
Switzerland, for the workshop that will
be attended by representatives from the
private sector including the Burapha Ago-Forestry
Co Ltd, Oji Lao Plantation Forest Co Ltd,
and the ANZ Bank. The workshop will draw
upon the expertise and experience of the
Sustainable Forestry and Rural Development
(SUFORD) project, the Department of Forestry,
the Department of Industry, the Lao National
Wood Products Association, IUCN and WWF.
The GFTN-Laos workshop
is one step toward achieving a strong and
unified approach to tackling the rise in
global forest trade in Lao PDR. “We aim
to find a path forward for sustainable forest
management in a very important part of the
world,” said Mr McLellan speaking before
the workshop.
Mr. McLellan described
the issues facing Lao PDR as being similar
to those of any country with large forest
resources. “There is a need to tackle unsustainable
and illegal forest practice, and to strengthen
institutional structures to ensure viable
and sustainable Lao forest industry in the
long-term,” he said.
WWF Forestry Officer
Ms. Sidavone Chanthavong says that if illegal
logging is to be eliminated in Lao PDR it
is vital that forest management agencies,
forest product trading and processing companies
play key roles in driving improvements in
forest management, such as those offered
by GFTN-Laos.
The GFTN currently links more than 350 companies
and entrepreneurs in more than 30 countries
around the world. Members have annual forest
products sales exceeding US $52.9 billion
per year, and manage over 25.2 million hectares
of forests in progress to certification.
Key services of the GFTN to member companies
include technical support and facilitation
of trade links between companies committed
to achieving and supporting responsible
forestry.
