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Tuna’s End

By Paul Greenberg
NY Times
June 21, 2010

On the high seas, the bluefin is being hunted into extinction. Will we ever be able to think about seafood the same way?

On the morning of June 4, in the international waters south of Malta, the Greenpeace vessels Rainbow Warrior and Arctic Sunrise deployed eight inflatable Zodiacs and skiffs into the azure surface of the Mediterranean. Protesters aboard donned helmets and took up DayGlo flags and plywood shields. With the organization’s observation helicopter hovering above, the pilots of the tiny boats hit their throttles, hurtling the fleet forward to stop what they viewed as an egregious environmental crime. It was a high-octane updating of a familiar tableau, one that anyone who has followed Greenpeace’s Save the Whales adventures of the last 35 years would have recognized. But in the waters off Malta there was not a whale to be seen.

COP10 Host Japan under Fire for Fishing Policies

Japan's Eco-Credentials Assailed

Seafood policy seen negating moral authority News photo

By Eric Johnston
Japan Times

April 8, 2010

OSAKA — Six months before Japan hosts a major U.N. conference on biodiversity, the government and major corporations involved in the issue are conducting a series of events to raise public awareness about threats to the world's ecosystems and what can be done to save natural habitats.

But global criticism over Japan's stance on whales, dolphins and tuna has led environmental activists abroad to question if Tokyo can lead in biodiversity preservation.

Some Japanese nongovernmental organizations also wonder if incidents ranging from clashes earlier this year between antiwhaling activists and the whaling fleet to Japan's role a few weeks ago in successfully preventing a ban on bluefin tuna trade will affect the government's ability to successfully host the October biodiversity conference.

Japan Battles Endangered Bluefin Trading Ban

CITES, Biodiversity Loss and the Culprit: Intensive Fishing and Farming

By Paula Crossfield
civileats.com
March 17th, 2010

Governments from 120 nations are gathered in Doha, Qatar this week to discuss the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). High up on the agenda is a potential trade ban on bluefin tuna, supported by both the US and Europe, which would allow time for the species to recover before it can be traded again. Japan, where bluefin is a delicacy and where 80% of the fish is consumed, is strongly opposed to the move — despite convincing scientific evidence that the species is nearing collapse.

According to Charles Clover, journalist and author of the book The End of the Line, the Japanese press has arrived in Doha en masse, and “have been placing stories saying that the attempt to ban international trade in the bluefin is an attack on the Japanese custom of eating fish.” Yesterday’s report from Clover indicated that an Appendix II listing for bluefin is in discussion, which he says would equal “business as usual.” The film version of The End of the Line gave photographic evidence of the shady deals surrounding bluefin, including the fact that the Japanese company Mitsubishi is currently stockpiling the fish and now controls 60% of the trade.

Battle Lines Drawn across Nagoya Land

Loss of 'satoyama' risks loss of face ahead of biodiversity summit

By ERIC JOHNSTON
Japan Times
March 4, 2010

Battleground

The Hirabari "satoyama" is a miniecosystem and green oasis in Nagoya and the focus of a struggle between developers and local citizens who see its preservation as a test case for biodiversity preservation. COURTESY OF THE HIRABARI SATOYAMA CONSERVANCY

OSAKA — Home to a biologically diverse "satoyama" ecosystem, a Nagoya land tract is at the center of a struggle between the owners who want to develop it and local citizens who want it preserved to demonstrate environmental responsibility.

Nagoya will host a U.N. biodiversity conference in October, and the central government at that time will push its "Satoyama Initiative" to promote protection worldwide of natural habitats from urbanization. Thus if the site comes under development, this would be a major embarrassment.

Satoyama, literally "livable mountain," traditionally refers to forested areas among small farm communities that help in the sustainable management of ecosystem diversity.

Under the satoyama method, farmers cut and plant trees in a way that maintains a rich forest environment, and the paddies they created as a result provided habitats for birds, frogs, fish and other life. But with the rapid postwar modernization, many so-called satoyama sites have been lost to development.

COP10.org

Tuna’s End

COP10 Host Japan under Fire for Fishing Policies

Japan's Eco-Credentials Assailed

Japan Battles Endangered Bluefin Trading Ban

CITES, Biodiversity Loss and the Culprit: Intensive Fishing and Farming

Battle Lines Drawn across Nagoya Land

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