Well done, Monaco. Diners may not like it but it has to happen.
In particular, they want the Atlantic bluefin, the species that is suffering most from overfishing, to be given appendix-1 status by Cites when it convenes next month. The proposal, put forward by Monaco, would end trade in the tuna between European fishing fleets and Japan, the world's main purchaser of the fish. Not surprisingly, Japan is expected to oppose the ban, the bluefin being a prime ingredient for sushi.
"Stocks of bluefin tuna in the western Atlantic have dropped by 82% since 1978, while those in the eastern Atlantic have dropped by 80%," said Heather Sohl, of the WWF. "We are looking at a species that is going to be fished into extinction unless we take urgent measures to save it."
The bluefin tuna can grow up to 14ft in length, weigh more than 1,000lb (450kg) and live for more than 30 years. It can swim at up to 40mph (65km/h), can dive to depths of half a mile and is one of the oceans' great travellers, swimming from the tropics to the Arctic. However, it has become an increasingly popular target for trawler fleets from France, Spain and Italy, who have found a lucrative market in Japan.
