John Frizell is part of our oceans team currently in Doha, Qatar, for the CITES meeting. following the disaster for bluefin tuna yesterday, he sent this bittersweet update.
There is a small gray bird flying around the main conference hall. Just before the vote which rejected protection for polar bears it landed on the bar which supports the transmitters for our simultaneous translation headphones, prompting the Chair to say ‘The wildlife has arrived.’
The disastrous vote on bluefin tuna introduced a new and dangerous logic into CITES proceedings, with delegates saying they understood the scientific case [there is overwhelming evidence that bluefin tuna meets the criteria for Appendix 1] but that ‘social and economic factors’ had to be considered as well. What they meant was that they recognize that bluefin is on the road to extinction but their desire for money, now, is more important than the long term survival of the species.
If this logic becomes accepted, then CITES will become a convention for the protection of inexpensive species. The more valuable ones will effectively fall outside it as money trumps science.
We will see on Sunday when sharks are discussed. Commercially valuable species are proposed for listing but the money involved is not as great as it was with bluefin. Is there a lower limit to the financial logic?
Meanwhile, the little bird was last seen flying up, into a corner, after the bluefin vote. It looked like it was trying to escape.
Find more updates on bluefin tuna on Greenpeace UK's website.
Update: George Monbiot sees to agree.