The future of the bluefin tuna is in the balance as the world debates an international trade ban.

Japan and Australia will stand against any proposed ban on fishing for Atlantic bluefin tuna at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) world conference which starts tomorrow (13 March) in Qatar.

The triennial conference brings together 175 governments from around the world, and over 40 proposals will be decided on in Doha, Qatar, from 13 to 25 March – the core one being that of the endangerment of Atlantic bluefin tuna.

Stocks of bluefin tuna have depleted by 80% over the last 40 years, and it is now expected that CITES will recommend a complete ban on its fishing and trade – until stocks recover.

The European Union has already announced that it is “concerned by the poor conservation status of Atlantic bluefin tuna, for which it supports a ban on international trade, provided that a number of conditions are fulfilled in order to ensure a viable future for fishermen affected by the new measures.”

Many other nations have also expressed their support for a ban, but countries like Japan and Australia who do the majority of the fishing (and trade) of the tuna are understandably against such action, instead asking for resource control.

At Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo, a group of traders protested yesterday against the proposed ban. President of the tuna traders’ association based at the market, Tadao Ban said: “I don’t think it’s appropriate to discuss bluefin tuna in the forum for endangered species, because you can preserve the species with appropriate resource control…We want to protect Japanese food culture and to prevent tuna from disappearing as a food source.”

Japan consumes about three-quarters of the bluefin tuna caught worldwide, and imports large amounts from France, Italy and Spain – most of it sold to Japan for use in its sushi and sashimi restaurants.

Japanese officials have blamed European governments for the bluefin’s decline, arguing that governments have allocated unfeasibly large quotas to their fleets and turned a blind eye to illegal fishing.

Any country accepting a CITES suspension would not be allowed to export bluefin caught in their waters, and would not be able to fish in international waters. However, CITES rules allow any country to lodge a “reservation” against measures it does not like, thereby opting out, and Japan is very likely to do so over the next few days.

Alongside Japan, the Australian Government has decided not to support a global ban on the trade of the northern variety of the species.  Instead the Federal Environment Minister, Peter Garrett, is supporting stronger trade control measures on the trade of Atlantic bluefin tuna.
 
He believes imposing a blanket prohibition on international trade would undermine international fisheries management and cooperation to protect the species, and will also allow individual countries to continue to catch Atlantic bluefin tuna for domestic consumption.

Greenpeace and the wildlife trade monitoring group Traffic say the stocks of Atlantic bluefin tuna are so low the species should not be fished at all.

Furthermore, the feature documentary “The End of the Line” was released across the world in 2009, revealing the impact of overfishing on our oceans. It examines the imminent extinction of bluefin tuna, brought on by increasing western demand for sushi – and revealed the shocking conclusion that if we continue fishing as we are now, scientists say that we will see the end of most seafood by the year 2048.

The next few days will be a crucial time for the bluefin tuna and its future on this planet. What do you think? Should we ban its fishing until stocks have replenished? Or should we let market forces dictate which species are allowed to survive and which are to become extinct?