EE.UU. - CITES Refuses to List Chilean Sea Bass in Blow to Anti-Sea Bass Campaign

viernes 15 de noviembre de 2002

SEAFOOD.COM by John Sackton Nov. 14, 2002 2:45 PM- Australia today withdrew its proposal to list Sea Bass at the current CITES meetings taking place in Chile. The proposal, which caused a great deal of controversy when it was first introduced at CCAMLR (Convention on living antarctic marine resources) was supported by New Zealand, but was opposed by a number of other countries, including the U.S.

Sea Bass has become the latest target of environmental campaigns designed to persuade chefs to not serve certain types of fish. The argument is that sea bass suffers from illegal and unreported fishing, and that it is market demand that is fueling the species decline.

Sea Bass is a slow growing, deep water fish which has become extremely popular as a foodservice item. As a slow growing fish, management must be cautious to avoid overfishing. However, contrary to the prevailing news reports, CCAMLR actually increased the TAC's for sea bass by 3158 tons based on scientific evidence of healthier stocks in the South Georgia and Ross Shelf areas.

Total TAC for sea bass is estimated to be about 40,000 tons annually. One of the primary problem areas for overfishing is the area around the Heard Islands, managed by Australia. The Australians are also one of the few CCAMLR countries that still allow directed trawling for sea bass. In other countries, sea bass is either caught by longlining, or is allowed as by-catch only up to a few percent of total landings.

Industry arguments are that the pirate fishing problem is localized primarily in the area around the Heard Islands, and that legitimate fishing for sea bass should not suffer because of poor controls in a few areas.

The recent increase in the TAC and the failure of CITES to list sea bass as a class II endangered product go against the prevailing ideas of the take a pass on sea bass campaign. In the past, fish such as striped bass and swordfish, also the target of highly visible organized boycotts, have seen their populations rebound due not to slack demand, but improved fishery management, including improved international cooperation in management. It is likely that the same mechanism will come into play with Sea Bass, so that the long term sustainability of the species will be from good international management, not from the current fad of boycot campaigns.