Transcript
BUBBA COOK:It is a barbaric practice that really is shameful that it is even occurring in this day and age. And incredibly wasteful as well. And the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission was charged with coming up with an improved regulation that was presented by the European Union to require a fins-naturally-attached policy in other words they couldn't separate the fins from the sharks.
DON WISEMAN: The idea with that is to just limit the catch so that you can only take so many sharks...
BC: In part, but also to provide for accountability. When you have got a pile of sharks [fins] it is hard to tell just how many sharks where killed as a result of that pile of sharks [fins]. So you want to have the entire carcass on board. It does help limit how much they can catch because whatever hold space they are putting shark carcasses into is hold space that they might have been able to use for a higher value tuna or other species. So it provides multiple functions. But the real goal is just to be able to know how much mortality we are seeing of these sharks.
DW: So this idea was put forward that didn't make any progress either?
BC: It was shut down by several of the nations who were the largest markets for shark fins and so it is no surprise just like woodward and burnstein and the nixon tapes you know follow the money and you can identify who the major objectors are. So unfortunately we were not able to see any progress on that. I know that the European Union was very disappointed, we were very disappointed. A number of the small islands states were also equally disappointed so we are hopeful that we will continue to see progress from other directions but it was a very disappointing meeting last week.
DW: Given that the NGOs have been pushing for a total ban such a compromise position seems a bit odd in a way?
BC: Well the compromise is that they are going to catch sharks either way. It is just the nature of some of the fisheries they catch sharks. WWF's position is, that is fine, we just want to know how much you are catching. And allowing for shark finning either through the five percent fin to carcass ratio or through direct finning which is prohibited, prevents it frustrates our ability to be able to identify the mortality of the shark stocks and in doing so we have no idea how effectively to manage the fishery. So it is just a confounding issue that can't seem to find, we are actually coming forward with that middle ground you know saying, fins naturally attached and even that is being opposed. There is just countries that want to be able to fin the sharks they don't see a problem with it.
DW: In addition to this there had been hopes that there would be some sort of protection for the likes of manta rays.
BC: One of the new trends particularly in Asian medicine is to use the gill rakers of manta rays and there smaller cousins the mobulid rays as a tonic, you know to use those gill rakers in a traditional medicine for a various number of ailments and remedies and treatments. And as a result it has created a burgeoning market for these gill rakers and where they used to be discarded and not targeted now there is a number of fisheries that are targeting these species. And they are highly vulnerable as acknowledged by the convention on the international trade of endangered species or cities which this October voted to list Mantas and mobulids on their appendix II which prohibits their trade and sale.
DW: Did the tuna commission make any effort in this regard?
BC: No again there were a number of countries that claimed that there wasn't enough information, there wasn't enough evidence to provide these protections for mantas and mobulids. It is very disingenuous of these countries to put these arguments forward. It basically turns a precautionary approach on its head so rather than protect the conservation of a species it actually protects the profits of the industry.
DW: The Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission was set up to ensure the sustainability of the fishery across the region. What sort of a job is it doing?
BC: It is hard to say that they are doing a good job because there is clearly several stocks that have plummeted. We have got Pacific bluefin at 2.6 percent of its historic biomass. We have got bigeye tuna at 16 percent of its historic biomass. All the stocks have seen a precipitous drop over time in correlation with an exponential increase in fishing capacity and effort in the region. We have seen two shark stocks, silky sharks and the oceanic white tip which have gone into prohibitions. We have seen a general decline in the overall abundance of a number of species in the region and it is challenging because as I have mentioned to others before I think the better question is to ask what would it be like if the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission didn't exist.
DW: They have told us it would be a lot worse.
BC: Yes and I would agree. So for all the criticism which is deserved in many cases that the commission receives it would certainly be a lot worse if there was no regulatory authority in the region. So for however dysfunctional it is, it is achieving something.
