Potential Ban on Tuna Trade

In the face of commercial extinction, the country of Monaco has proposed a ban on the exportation of Atlantic bluefin tuna by placing it under an international endangered species protection agreement. By listing Atlantic bluefin tuna under Appendix 1 of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), the species would be protected from trade and only allowed for domestic consumption in the EU, where demand is already low. Species numbers fell by nearly 75 percent from 1957 to 2007, to less than 15 percent of historical levels, according to the International Commission on the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT). Vocal opposition is expected from Japan, which buys nearly 80 percent of the annual bluefin catch, and a number of Mediterranean nations, where the majority of tuna is caught and shipped.