A journey into Extinction
At the 15th Conference of the Parties of CITES (Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora), in
beautiful Doha/Qatar, the oceans were dealt a terrible blow by Japan.
It was Japan, together with China, Singapore and quite a few of the
small countries, who received financial aid from Japan and
participated in what I would call “The Oceans' Pearl Harbor”. To
watch them win this battle during which we all worked so hard to save
and protect endangered marine species from extinction, was
devastating.
The big losers of this despicable and ruthless behavior are the
oceans, the sharks, the red corrals and the Atlantic blue fin tuna.
Since the ocean is our life support system, that makes all humans who
live on this planet, big losers as well. Without a healthy ocean we
will not be able to survive. That’s why I can’t help asking myself,
“Who gives those people the right to loot our oceans?” Sadly, the
answer is: “The members of CITES”. They handed them the mandate to do
so.
The fact that Japan was represented by 50 people, giving a lavish
sushi party at their embassy the night before the vote, twisting arms
and applying pressure on the poor countries to get their vote, is
clever but a disgusting display of “ownership” over our oceans. Am I
wrong when I say “our oceans”? Until now I was under the impression
that the worlds oceans belong to all of humanity and not to a “chosen
few”, who claim it their birthright to rob them of whatever they like.
The sushi party clearly tells me how the votes against sharks, tuna
and red corals came about. You don’t need to be a marine scientist to
figure that out.
I don’t believe that anybody would doubt that this kind of behavior
had one common denominator: Money. I found it embarrassing to watch
the representative from Island, walking around after the final vote on
the Porbeagle shark was lost; putting her arms around every Japanese
she could get her hands on and hugging the representatives from
Singapore to show her pleasure over the damage they did to our oceans.
So what did we finally achieve as far as the oceans are concerned? It
was a death sentence to the blue fin tuna and to some shark species
that made those people, whose only concern is money, so very happy.
There was little talk about the protection of marine life. Nobody paid
attention to the scientists, who warned about the consequences to the
ocean if those species would be exterminated.
The fact that the population of the blue fin tuna has already been
reduced by 80%, that the red coral is almost extinct in the
Mediterranean, and that the hammerhead sharks have been depleted by
90% in some areas, did not matter to those who want to continue the
multibillion dollar business of killing them all.
Is that what CITES is all about? Has it become a convention in favor
of trade with endangered species? There was a lot of talk about poor
people who would suffer if we stop the killing; but I don’t know too
many poor people who do damage to the oceans. The damage is done by
huge long-line fishing vessels, owned by rich people. I also don’t
think that too many poor people will indulge in blue fin tuna sushi or
in shark fin soup. That is exactly what Japan is doing that is the
reason why the Sunday Times rightfully calls them: “A Country out of
Step”.
Jupp Kerckerinck zur Borg
Shark Research
Institute & Sharkprotect.com
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