Posted on 27 October
2009 - Madrid, Spain – A new method that
uses gene sequencing to accurately distinguish
between tuna species has the
potential to support fisheries management
and possible trade restrictions for endangered
tuna species.
The new method, revealed
in a paper published today in PLoS ONE,
the online open-access scientific journal,
can make an identification from any kind
of processed tuna tissue.
The true tunas – from
the genus Thunnus – are among the most economically
valuable fish in the world and are also
among the most endangered of all commercially
exploited fish . They are not to be confused
with the tuna most commonly tinned, which
comes from related families such as mackerel.
The paper, ‘A Validated
Methodology for Genetic Identification of
Tuna Species (Genus Thunnus)’, co-authored
by Dr Jordi Viñas, a fish genetics
specialist at Girona University in Spain
and Dr Sergi Tudela, Head of Fisheries of
WWF Mediterranean, proposes for the first
time ever a genetic method for the precise
identification of all eight recognized species
of tuna.
Northern, southern and
Pacific bluefin tuna are among the most
stressed fish populations in the world,
with the Principality of Monaco having lodged
an application before the Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species
(CITES) for a trade ban on the Atlantic
(Northern) bluefin tuna where several fisheries
have collapsed and failed to recover and
the Mediterranean bluefin fishery is exhibiting
advanced signals of impending collapse in
the face of overfishing and decades of poor
management.
The other tuna species
are yellowfin, blackfin, longtail, bigeye
and albacore tuna. Identification of traded
forms of the fish, which can be dressed,
gilled and gutted, or loin and belly meat,
and either fresh or frozen – is a highly
complex process, which has hampered conservation
efforts and was a potential limitation to
the imposition of trade controls.
The analysis of the
DNA sequence variability of two unlinked
genetic markers, one a hypervariable segment
of the mitochondrial genome and the other
a nuclear gene, enables full discrimination
between all the tuna species.
"..findings are
particularly relevant"
“This methodology will
allow the identification of tuna species
of any kind of tissue or type or presentation
– including sushi and sashimi,” said Dr
Jordi Viñas of Girona University.
“The differentiation between different tunas,
even those with highly similar genes, is
now possible.”
“Our findings are particularly
relevant for the highly overfished, overtraded
– and hence endangered Atlantic bluefin
tuna, for which there is a growing campaign
to impose a temporary ban on international
commercial trade,” added co-author Dr Sergi
Tudela of WWF. “There will now be no trace
of doubt when seeking to identify chilled
or frozen tuna flesh at port or point of
sale.”
The paper will remain
available to download for free from the
website of PLoS ONE and will be submitted
to the relevant tuna fishing and trade management
and control authorities.
(PLoS ONE is the first
journal of primary research from all areas
of science to employ a combination of peer
review and post-publication rating and commenting,
to maximize the impact of every report it
publishes. PLoS ONE is published by the
Public Library of Science (PLoS), the open-access
publisher whose goal is to make the world’s
scientific and medical literature a public
resource.)
+ More
Most European palm oil
buyers fail sustainability test
Posted on 27 October
2009 - Gland, Switzerland – The majority
of European palm oil buyers are failing
to buy certified sustainable palm oil, despite
its availability and the previous commitments
by many companies to purchase it, according
to a first assessment by WWF.
WWF’s Palm Oil Buyers’
Scorecard, released today, scored the performance
of 59 of the most prominent retailers and
manufacturers in Europe that buy and use
palm oil in their products. The Scorecard
comes as the world’s largest producers,
buyers, and traders of palm oil gather for
the 7th Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil,
held Nov. 2-4 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The Scorecard reveals
that 10 of those 59 companies have scored
20 or more points, and thus are considered
by WWF to be showing real progress on their
commitments to buy and use sustainable palm
oil. They have joined the Roundtable, properly
monitored their palm oil purchases, and
have put in place and started to take action
on commitments to buy certified sustainable
palm oil.
WWF has been asking
buyers of palm oil to commit to the RSPO
since 2003, and while some of these companies
show encouraging signs of stepping up their
commitments and actions on sustainable palm
oil, the majority of companies are not.
19 of the 59 companies scored between 0
and 3 out of 29 possible points, meaning
that they have taken very little or no action
to curb their use of non-certified palm
oil and are failing to respond to the efforts
that palm oil producers have made to achieve
certification under the Roundtable
Meanwhile, a range of
28 companies scored between 5 – 20 points.
While a few are showing progress many of
these have only just begun to take action
on responsible palm oil. While some have
put policies and systems in place, often
they have yet to start buying certified
sustainable palm oil.
“WWF welcomes the action
of those companies that have moved toward
buying certified palm oil,” said Rod Taylor,
Director of the Forests Programme at WWF
International. “Although many companies
have a long way to go, the performances
of the top companies in the Scorecard signal
to the rest of the industry that it is possible
to turn commitment into action and transform
the market.”
Further actions by these companies will
be captured in the next version of the Scorecard,
scheduled for 2011.
“However, WWF also acknowledges
that even the top scoring companies in the
Scorecard need to continue to raise their
game if they are to use certified palm oil
for 100% of their palm oil supply, which
is the stated objective of many of these
companies.”
“Because certified palm
oil is now available, it is time to hold
major palm oil users to account for their
policies and actions,” Taylor said.
The growing demand for
palm oil is adding to the already severe
pressure on remaining rainforest areas of
the world. The loss of forest in Indonesia
is threatening the survival of species such
as the orang-utan, the Sumatran tiger, rhino
and elephant. Forest loss and the draining
of peatlands for palm oil plantations is
also contributing to climate change and
displacing local people who rely on the
forest for food and shelter. Palm oil is
one of the world’s fastest expanding crops
in Southeast Asia as well as West Africa
and South America.
It is because of threats
like this that WWF worked with other NGOs
and the palm oil industry to set up the
Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO)
in 2003. Since then WWF has worked with
the industry to ensure that the RSPO standards
contain robust social and environmental
criteria, including a prohibition on the
conversion of valuable forests. Certified
Sustainable Palm Oil has been available
since November 2008 and provides assurance
that valuable tropical forests have not
been cleared and that environmental and
social safeguards have been met during the
production of the palm oil.
WWF opted to grade palm
oil buyers after releasing figures in May
showing that only a small percentage of
the sustainable palm oil available on the
market had been bought. Since then, the
situation is starting to improve. Over the
last year, RSPO certified plantations have
produced over 1,000,000 tonnes of certified
sustainable palm oil (CSPO), and over 195,000
tonnes have been sold to date. While this
still represents only 19 percent of the
available supply on average, the RSPO has
reported that CSPO sales have been growing
in recent months.
The scoring of companies
was a two-step process that took six months
to complete. In the first step, WWF evaluated
the performance of companies based on publicly
available data, such as corporate sustainability
reports. WWF then sent a preliminary score
to each company with a package of information
to brief companies about the Scorecard,
including details on the project’s objectives
and the methodology. The companies were
given the opportunity to submit additional
information to WWF that might improve their
scores.
The Scorecard will be
published every two years and eventually
will expand to include palm oil buyers in
other markets around the world.
