CHILE (6 Nov 2002) -- Fish will for the first time be the main course at the world's premier conservation conference, which began in Chile on Sunday. As well as debating the future of the African elephant, delegates to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) meeting in Santiago will try to save the "elephant of the reefs". CITES has traditionally left fish conservation to the international fishing treaties. But growing concern about the voracious overfishing of several important species has forced a rethink. The move is significant because the trade in fish is far bigger than in that in the species considered by CITES in the past. Governments will propose four heavyweight fish for "listing" under the convention. This means that their trade will have to be monitored and controlled to prevent over-exploitation. Shark soup Two are sharks. The basking shark and whale shark, proposed for listing by the Philippines, grow to three and 10 metres respectively. They are often killed for their fins, which fetch up to $300 in Hong Kong markets to make soup. The other two are also big fish. The humphead wrasse and Patagonian toothfish can both grow to more than two metres and live for 40 years. The US wants the humphead wrasse listed. Often called the "elephant of the reefs", this giant fish lives its long life among the coral reefs of southeast Asia. It is caught and shipped live to restaurants in Hong Kong and mainland China, where it sells for up to $100 a kilo. | | Yvonne Sadoby, the Hong Kong-based chair of the World Conservation Union's wrasse specialist group, told New Scientist: "The fishing trade is hammering an already rare species. It is getting harder and harder to find large humphead wrasse. Most of those we see in Hong Kong markets now are sexually immature." Pirate boats The Patagonian toothfish's world-be protector is the Australian government. The fish swim in the cold waters off Antarctica and environment minister David Kemp says pirate boats from Russia and Indonesia are decimating the species. Restaurants sell the Patagonian toothfish under the more attractive name of sea bass, even though it is not a bass at all. The CITES meeting will also renew its long-running debates over how to protect the African elephant. Amid reports of a revival in ivory smuggling, Kenya will demand that an existing ban on all ivory trading is maintained. But southern African countries say a limited legal trade would provide cash for conservation. SCUBA FORUMDISCUSS THIS TOPIC - Dive in and have your say at Scuba Forum |
