Bluefin tuna and sharks
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora
CITES 2010 – Doha
Press release n°2
News in brief:
For a French ecologist who is accustomed to hydrocarbon and Volatile Organic Compounds odours, depending on Doha weather conditions, resembles both Fos-sur-Mer and Le Havre. The city is often covered by a smog of Arabian light oil and from the CITES conference centre, super-tankers can be seen crossing dhows made out of mangrove forest wood. The Israeli delegates are protected under tight security measures. That CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) in spite of diplomatic embargos permits for Israeli scientists and Arab countries to try to insure the survival of the ornate spiny-tailed lizard by listing it under appendix I is to the credit of the convention. Its range state residual intersects Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Yemen and Israel. In Doha, WWF and the Union European are global warming sceptics; they refuse the inclusion of the Polar Bear to appendix I.
Pernicious PCB
The environmental, sanitary, and social catastrophe due to PCB is propagated to the point that it now affects the sea and international waters. The sardines move, are eaten by carnivorous fish, and enter into the composition of fish meal. PCB accumulates and becomes concentrated in the higher levels of the food chain.
Robin des Bois publishes the map of interior and maritime waters struck by bans on fishing, consuming, or transporting all or particular species of fish. This map is comparable to an inventory of land sites polluted by PCB, regularly updated by Robin des Bois, and of which the newest version will be released at the end of next week.
An Alang scheme
Within the framework of adapting the fishing fleet to the European policy, hundreds of boats will be demolished in France from now until the end of the year. Each owner receives a substantial compensation bonus from the European Union and the French State which could reach up to 600,000 €. The bonus is calculated taking into account the age of the vessel, its size, the type of fishing and the related catch quota and finally the engine’s power. The paying of this bonus is triggered by a proof of destruction or of the incapacity to navigate.
