Despite growing scientific evidence that Atlantic bluefin tuna populations are in steep decline, international delegates did little to protect the prized seafood at an annual voting meeting last week.
The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) reportedly held talks and votes behind closed doors and did not publish a record of the votes.
Atlantic bluefin tuna populations have fallen by 80% since 1970 due to overfishing. The species is listed as Critically Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Yet ICCAT reduced the 2011 fishing quota in the eastern Atlantic by just 4% to 12,900 tons, and in the western Atlantic they cut it from 1800 to 1750 tons for next year, according to the Sidney Morningh Herald. The commission also declined to shut down fishing in the tuna’s spawning grounds in the Mediterranean and the Gulf of Mexico.
However, they did ban the fishing, retention and sale of oceanic whitetip sharks and six types of hammerheads.
"Yet again, the pursuit of short-term profit has won out over the need to protect a species, and our oceans, for the future," Greenpeace said in a blog post.
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