Panorama
 
 
 
 
 

ENDANGERED TURTLES NO LONGER
BEING SOUVENIRED IN DOMINICAN REPUBLIC


Environmental Panorama
International
April of 2009


Washington, US— Critically endangered hawksbill turtles are no longer being sold as tourist souvenirs in the Dominican Republic after a powerful government campaign cracked down on shops illegally trading such items. More than 99 percent of these souvenirs have been withdrawn or confiscated the wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC reports.

A 2006 survey carried out by TRAFFIC found more than 23,000 items made from hawksbill turtles for sale. A February revisit of the same locations revealed a dramatic reduction with only 135 shell items.

The success has been achieved thanks to a widespread government-led action launched in November 2008. The Dominican Republic has encouraged the trade of alternative products such as cow horn or bone to present an alternative to shops trading with these turtles.

“We warmly congratulate the Government of the Dominican Republic on their decisive action that has virtually eliminated the blatant illegal souvenir trade in hawksbill turtle shells,” said Adrian Reuter, TRAFFIC’s Representative in Mexico.

“This sets an important conservation example for the region, showing that there are solutions that benefit wildlife and people, especially local communities that rely on tourism.”

Hawksbills are one of three marine turtle species that nest on beaches in the Dominican Republic. Over the last century, millions have been killed for the tortoiseshell markets of Europe, the United States and Asia. Today they are preyed upon by poachers mainly for their shells, which are made into souvenirs and sold to tourists, millions of whom visit the country, mostly from North America and Europe.

Hawksbills are classified by IUCN as Critically Endangered and facing an extremely high risk of global extinction. They are listed in Appendix I of CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) along with other marine turtles, which prohibits their international trade.

“With marine turtles around the world being threatened with extinction, we need to maximize every effort to save these species, not least because they are worth infinitely more alive as tourist attractions than dead,” said Carlos Drews, WWF’s regional co-ordinator for marine turtle conservation in Latin America and the Caribbean.

“The good news from the Dominican Republic is that it demonstrates to fellow nations that a real difference can be made to reduce illegal trade.”

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Indian Ocean tuna commission a failure – again

03 Apr 2009 - Bali, Indonesia: The Indian Ocean Tuna Commission – in the spotlight as some coastal fishers whose stocks it has failed to protect turn to piracy instead - is continuing in its unbroken record of failure to regulate one of the world's largest tuna fisheries.

The commission, which has just concluded its 13th meeting in Bali, failed to set catch limits for any of the fisheries it is supposed to be regulating, failed to agree any new measures to restrain rampant over-fishing, failed to set effective rules on shark finning and put off a much needed decision to reform itself.

IOTC scientists, grappling with dangerously inadequate information on all stocks, had warned that yellowfin tuna was “probably” overfished..

"Most of the world's large tuna fisheries are poorly managed by bodies that commission scientific assessments and then set catch quotas that ignore them, but the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission is the most dysfunctional of all," said WWF International Marine Director Miguel Jorge.

“Another stumbling block in the negotiations has been EU intransigence on large Spanish and French fleets maintaining their swordfish catch levels at dangerously high levels.

“At the same time the commission has just been wringing its hands on the piracy issue, with a resolution failing to note that the pirates now attacking merchant shipping are from coastal communities that got into the aggressive habit of trying to defend their fishing livelihoods from illegal fishing by foreign fishing boats.”

The meeting also failed to make adequate progress on proposals to ban shark-finning by requiring sharks to be landed whole – with fins naturally attached - rather than with the existing limited restriction of having a whole shark to fins ratio of just five percent, making it hard to identify how many sharks of which potentially endangered species are being taken in what may be one of the most wasteful and unsustainable fisheries.

Other controversial measures were a failure to extend the high seas large scale drift net ban to coastal waters, deferring consideration of vital Catch Documentation Scheme improvements and failure to adopt a realistic observer program.

“Many member States appear to be operating on a hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil basis which supports continuing rampant non-compliance with even a lax management regime,” said Jorge.

“No-one knows what is really going on, few seem to care, States report their catches late or not at all and the scientists that are supposed to be the cornerstone of the system are doing the best they can with the scraps of data they are given.”

While some regional fisheries management organizations are functioning better than others, WWF is taking its dissatisfaction with the workings of some of the flagship commissions such as the IOTC to the marketplace and work with the seafood industry to demand better management by RFMOs and sustainable tuna fishing

No bluefin tuna on Monaco shelves or menus

All restaurants, retailers and chefs in the Principality of Monaco have removed endangered Atlantic bluefin tuna from their shelves and menus until stocks of the fish have recovered and the fishery and trade are managed in a sustainable way.

A special lunch debate to celebrate the initiative was joined by His Serene Highness Prince Albert II of Monaco today.

WWF congratulates Monaco – a Mediterranean state with a strong tradition of fishing and eating bluefin tuna – for being the first territory in the world known to achieve this bluefin-free status.

“The unanimous move of Monaco restaurants and shops to remove bluefin tuna from their shelves and menus in light of the worrying deterioration of this emblematic species will draw attention to the crisis in this fishery,” said Philippe Mondielli, Scientific Director of the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation.

“WWF applauds Monaco for becoming the first country in the world to be entirely free of endangered Mediterranean bluefin tuna,” said Dr Sergi Tudela, Head of Fisheries at WWF Mediterranean.

“WWF encourages other countries and territories to follow Monaco’s example until the species can be considered a sustainable seafood product.”

There is growing support for a listing of Atlantic bluefin tuna under Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

Atlantic bluefin tuna is mostly caught in the Mediterranean Sea which constitutes the main spawning ground for the species.

A global trade ban tied explicitly to the survival of the species would turn around the management failure and disrespect for scientific advice so rampant in the Mediterranean bluefin tuna fishery.

CITES next meets in Doha in early 2010.

The Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation is supporting WWF’s bluefin tuna work in the Mediterranean through conservation activities including a pioneering tuna tagging project, ‘On the Med tuna trail’.

Data provided by the tags are improving scientific understanding of this migratory species and will thus contribute to better management decisions.

 
 

Source: WWF – World Wildlife Foundation International
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