Today it’s all about last-day expectations. All important discussions have been put off for today’s plenary. The reopening of the bluefin tuna, sharks and corals debates will depend upon the support of the parties. Today we may obtain more protection for more species… or be doomed to lose them. Finally CITES failed to ban the … Read more
Today all four shark proposals were debated. Unfortunately, only one was approved. The proposals to protect hammerhead sharks, oceanic whitetips and the spurdog were rejected. The good news is that the proposal to protect the porbeagle was agreed! This is a large, migratory and warm blooded shark. It´s meat is heavily consumed in Europe. The … Read more
Today the European Parliament adopted a Resolution recommending a strong EU conservation position at the upcoming CITES Conference of the Parties (COP), to be held in Qatar in March. The Resolution calls on EU Member States and the Commission to support an international bluefin tuna trade ban, and strong commercial measures for endangered sharks and … Read more
Tomorrow proposals for protection of 8 shark species will be discussed. We are very excited cause it seems that there is a will to reach an agreement. Some fishing countries, like Spain, seem to be in favour of these proposals and everyone, including countries envolved in shark fisheries and trade, aknowledge that there is a … Read more
This morning, Sunday, we were back to work. The EU finally organized a coordination meeting wiht the NGOs, thanks pushing by our colleague from the office in Brussels! We didn´t get much information out of it. Bluefin didn´t get discussed at all, sharks were all good since the EU supports all proposals, and the same … Read more
Last evening we went on a boat ride on a traditional wooden fishing boat. Well, the boat was so traditional that the motors broke and we were out at sea, drifting away, for a while before they got fixed. We finally ended up back at port, safe and sound! Today we went to a delgate … Read more
Friday 19 March Despite the European proposal for the protection of bluefin tuna’s defeat, not everything is lost yet. There is still a little possibility to which we’ll hold tight. Today is a day for praying so there’ll be no meetings. We’ll take this opportunity to go out for a walk and clear up our … Read more
Breaking news out of Doha: a trade ban on bluefin tuna (Appendix I listing) has been defeated. Although there were repeated calls from delegates from the E.U., U.S. and Monaco to allow time for parties to meet and arrive at a compromise position, a Libya delegate forced a preemptory vote on the E.U. proposal, which … Read more
Sun is burning hot in the outdoors, but we barely feel it. We haven’t gone to the streets yet, all the work happens at the convention hotel, we have no time to see the daylight; as a matter of fact it could actually be an advantage. Follow the shark negotiation with Elizabeth Griffin Follow our … Read more
Today is Monday and we start working “on the spot”. We thought we’re going to find known faces from the ICCAT meeting, and we’re right. Even though CITES is a conservation-oriented meeting, this year the presence and interference of the fishing industry is going to be stronger than ever because of the importance of the … Read more
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We have already protected nearly 4 million square miles of ocean and innumerable sea life - but there is still more to be done.
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