WWF uncovers massive unreported trade of Atlantic Bluefin tuna through Panama

Huge amounts of Bluefin traded illegally

October 2012. A new study commissioned by WWF has uncovered that between 2000 and 2010 the equivalent of 18,704 tonnes of live Bluefin tuna were traded via Panama without being reported to the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) - the international body managing the fishery. Besides Panama, Mediterranean countries including Spain, Italy, Morocco, Tunisia and Turkey were involved, as well as Japan. WWF has called on ICCAT and the concerned countries to urgently investigate further.

Open secret

"This is the first ever study on this issue and it probably shows only the tip of the iceberg. We finally managed to get the proof of a situation that has been acknowledged for many years even by ICCAT itself", said Dr. Sergi Tudela, Head of WWF Mediterranean Fisheries Programme.

Based on official trade and customs databases, it has been revealed that over a decade as much as 14,327 tonnes of processed Atlantic Bluefin was traded via Panama. This volume of trade corresponds to an estimated weight of 18,704 tonnes of live fish.

Bluefin tuna has been exported to Panama from Mediterranean countries including Spain, Italy, Morocco, Tunisia and Turkey and Panama, in turn, re-exported to Japan as much as 13,730 tonnes of processed Bluefin. The trade detected peaked in 2003 and 2004, with 3000-4000 tonnes per year, but was still on-going at a lesser extent as late as in 2010.

Crime
"According to available records, not a single shipment identified by the report was ever reported to ICCAT. If confirmed, it would fully qualify as illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing according to the United Nations' FAO standards and would equal environmental crime". added Tudela

Spain, Italy, Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey, and Japan were involved
All involved countries mentioned in the study were ICCAT Contracting Parties at the time the unreported trade operations were detected. According to ICCAT rules in force during all the study period, any international trade of Atlantic Bluefin tuna had to be duly reported, to enable cross-checking with catch quotas.

Continued:  http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/panama-bluefin.html

Dealer in Rare, Endangered Birds Flies the Coop

A man arrested for allegedly trading rare and endangered birds through the Internet escaped from custody on Monday just as he was about to be questioned by wildlife authorities, conservationists said. 

Irma Hermawati, coordinator of the Wildlife Advocacy Foundation (LASA), said that Wahid bin Umar escaped from the West Java Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) before officers could interrogate him. 

“We received news that he escaped at 7 a.m., on Monday morning, after telling officers that he needed to go to the toilet,” Irma said. 

She added that Wahid had been arrested on Sunday afternoon in Subang, West Java, by BKSDA officers and local police for allegedly selling protected birds through an online commerce site. 

Officers seized two birds during the arrest — a crested hawk-eagle and a Javan hawk-eagle. The latter, which is the national bird of Indonesia, is categorized as an endangered species, making its possession, sale or trade illegal. 

Authorities were aware of the suspect’s actions and were keeping a close eye on him. 

“The suspect’s activities had been under surveillance since Saturday,” Irma said. “He was known to frequently sell birds online through the site tokobagus.com, under the handle ‘Sulaiman.’ He managed to sell between eight and 15 birds before he was arrested.” 

She said that among the birds he was known to have sold included palm cockatoos, yellow-crested cockatoos, hornbills and birds-of-paradise. 

Some hornbill and bird-of-paradise species are threatened, while the yellow-crested cockatoo is critically endangered — or just a step away from being extinct in the wild — which makes their possession or trade a crime. 

Irma said Wahid was believed to have bought the birds from a dealer in Surabaya. He was also a self-proclaimed member of the Raptor Club of Indonesia, which purports to conserve the country’s native birds of prey through breeding. 

“If he received the proper training [from the RCI], then it would be easy for him to handle the birds,” Irma said. “As for his claim to be a bird lover, we believe that’s just an excuse for him to sell birds. He was selling them as far as Aceh and Medan.” 

Wildlife activists recently sounded the alarm about the increased trading of animals and animal parts over the Internet, particularly in tiger parts. 

That announcement in late July came just days after police arrested a suspected taxidermist in Depok with dozens of stuffed wild animals and pelts. 

They included 14 tigers, two leopards, one clouded leopard, a lion, three bears and a tapir. 

There were also two sacks full of tiger pelts, as well as a stuffed tiger head and four mounted deer heads.

http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/news/dealer-in-rare-endangered-birds-flies-the-coop/538119