30
Apr 2009 Halifax, Nova Scotia: Cod bycatch
was at least 70 per cent higher than target
levels on the southern Grand Banks near
Canada, holding back recovery of one of
the world’s best known fisheries following
its spectacular collapse and closure in
the early 11000s.
Information provided
to WWF-Canada also said that European Union
boats were responsible for the largest proportion
of the overrun in bycatch.
Excessive bycatch of
cod has undermined a moratorium imposed
in 1994, peaking in 2003, when bycatch amounts
were estimated to be over 80 per cent of
the remaining cod stock.
WWF pushed for a 2008 cod recovery strategy
that included setting a bycatch reduction
target of 40 per cent for southern Grand
Banks cod at the September 2007 annual meeting
of the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization
(NAFO).
The 40 per cent target
was equivalent to a fishing mortality of
420 tonnes, estimated to be the maximum
the population could withstand to still
have some chance of recovery. Unofficial
2008 fishing year statistics however show
a total of 713 tonnes of bycatch, with EU
boats taking 444 tonnes – with these figures
taking no account of what is believed to
be considerable amounts of misreporting
and illegal fishing.
Before the results of
the 2008 fishing year became available,
NAFO stated in a press release that they
had “adopted a resolution to implement its
commitment to an ecosystem-based fisheries
management approach”, an approach contradicted
by NAFO increasing the total allowable catches
(TACs) for fisheries with high levels of
cod bycatch. Evidence of an increase in
young cod in the population was also ignored.
“Cod and other fish
stocks can never recover as long as NAFO
refuses to see the urgency of the bycatch
problem and acknowledge that voluntary measures
are not working,” said Dr. Robert Rangeley,
Vice President Atlantic, WWF-Canada. “If
NAFO’s Scientific Council starts working
on solutions at their June meeting then
it will be the responsibility of the Fisheries
Commission, in September, to impose strict
management measures that will give cod recovery
a chance.”
WWF is now calling on
NAFO to take steps that will benefit the
ecosystem health and the fisheries of the
Grand Banks. This is entirely consistent
with the Ecosystem management approach adopted
in the newly revised NAFO Convention.
Measures should include
the adoption of an effective recovery plan
for southern Grand Banks cod that sets long-term
recovery goals, immediate bycatch reduction
targets, gear-based solutions and closures
to protect spawning and nursery areas. The
adopted measures will need to be backed
by monitoring and enforcement, to be effective.
Defining and Estimating
Global Marine Fisheries Bycatch, a paper
co-authored by WWF for the journal Marine
Policy, recently estimated that global bycatch
– defined as unused and unmanaged catch
– constitutes more than 40 per cent of the
global reported catch.
+ More
Arabian Tahr gets royal
protection
28 Apr 2009 Dubai, United
Arab Emirates – In a major conservation
decision, the United Arab Emirates has established
the Wadi Wurayah Fujairah – home to the
endangered Arabian Tahr and possibly the
rare Arabian Leopard – as the country’s
first protected mountain area.
The Wadi is a 129 km-square
catchment that occupies the northern reaches
of Fujairah between the towns of Masafi,
Khor Fakkan and Bidiyah, and is an important
natural and cultural region in the Middle
East.
The area has been an
important source of water for local communities
for thousands of years, and is home to rare
and endangered species such as the Arabian
Tahr and Arabian Leopard.
The Arabian Leopard
(Panthera pardus nimr) is considered critically
endangered with less than 250 adult leopards
left, according to the IUCN Red List. The
Arabian Tahr (Arabitragus jayakari) is endangered,
with fewer than 2,500 adults in the wild.
Both species face threats from hunting and
habitat loss because of development.
In addition, the Wadi
is located within WWF’s Ecoregion 127 Arabian
Highlands and Shrublands, one of the conservation
organization’s global ecoregions grouping
the richest, rarest and most distinctive
of the Earth's natural habitats.
Under the proposed protection
plan reviewed by the royal court, EWS-WWF
calls for management and park rangers to
patrol the area and help educate visitors.
Visitors will also be fined for leaving
litter behind, polluting the water and painting
graffiti – problems that currently threaten
the Wadi.
“Wadi Wurayah is of
considerable ecological significance allowing
among the rarest species found in the UAE,
Arabian Peninsular and the world to survive
this harsh climate,” said Razan Khalifa
Al Mubarak, Managing Director EWS-WWF. “Over
the past 3 years, we have revealed the presence
of 12 species of mammals, 73 species of
birds, 17 species of reptiles and amphibians,
and one species of fish and 74 invertebrate
families, of which 11 are new species for
science.”
More than 300 species
of plants have been recorded in the area,
including species that are found only in
wetlands such as Typha dominginsis and the
unique orchid species of UAE: Epipactis
veratrifolia, Al Mubarak said.
His Highness Shaikh
Hamad Bin Mohammad Al Sharqi, Member of
the Supreme Council and Ruler of Fujairah,
issued a decree this week that officially
establishes the Wadi’s protected status.
The decree comes after
the completion of a successful 3 year project
launched in 2006 by Emirates Wildlife Society
(EWS) - WWF and the Fujairah Municipality
with the support of HSBC Bank Middle East
ltd, to assess the importance of Wadi Wurayah
for nature conservation and to establish
it as a protected area.
“We are extremely excited
about the decree and thank HH Shaikh Hamad
Bin Mohammad Al Sharqi for signing the official
document, making history and securing that
this gem of nature and culture is here for
future generations to enjoy. We also thank
Fujairah Municipality and HSBC Bank Middle
East for their on-going support and dedication
to this important cause,” Al Mubarak said.
The decision follows
a 2006 survey Fujairah among the residents
of the areas surrounding Wadi Wurayah and
its visitors to measure support for the
area’s protection.
The survey, conducted
by EWS-WWF and students from the Higher
Colleges of Technology, found that 67% of
residents and visitors supported the move.
Only 18% of those surveyed objected to the
plan and 13% of respondents were ambivalent.
Significantly, the survey also revealed
the amount of wildlife seen by residents
in the area has dropped dramatically over
the past 10 years.
“Wadi Wurayah is an
extremely important part of the UAE’s national
heritage and our on-going discoveries of
the species residing in the area, and support
of the locals is a testament to that fact,”
said Dr. Christophe Tourenq, Science and
Research Manager at EWS-WWF and manager
of the Wadi Wurayah project. “At the start
of the project we discovered that the endangered
mountain wildlife was increasingly threatened,
either by direct transformation or through
unregulated recreational use.”
“This decree will go
a long way in ensuring the wildlife and
area is closely monitored and protected
for future generations,” Tourenq said.
In 1995, His Highness
Shaikh Hamad Bin Mohammad Al Sharqi, ruler
of Fujairah, created the first marine protected
areas of the UAE.
“The declaration of
Wadi Wurayah as the first mountain protected
area of the country shows the commitment
of the Fujairah government to the conservation
of their natural and cultural heritage.
The project also illustrates perfectly the
collaboration between a local NGO, a local
government to protect our heritage with
the support of the private sector,” Tourenq
said.
