Last week, at the UN Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) the U.S. backed vote to ban trade on Atlantic bluefin tuna was overwhelmingly denied.

This disappointed environmentalists are concerned the commercially valuable tuna is in serious danger of extinction, numbers indicate that the population has decreased by three-quarters over the past 40 years.

After last weeks’ vote, concern has also turned toward the fate of bluefin tuna in the Southern hemisphere.  The population of bluefin tuna in the Southern hemisphere is even more unstable than its Atlantic relations and the many tons sold on the market are not sustainable. In the early 60s annual southern bluefin catches reached 80,000 tonnes and the population has continued to suffer since as it is unable to reproduce at the rate it is being fished.

Environmentalists are warning of complete extinction if fishing patterns are not altered drastically-and soon. Numbers of the southern bluefin have shrunk to less than five percent of stocks before commercial fishing began, according to the Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna (CCSBT), a quota-setting body comprising Australia, Indonesia, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea and Taiwan.

The Southern bluefin are fished primarily  in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa and can fetch thousands of dollars each while the global market is worth approximately 900 million dollars U.S. annually.  Because of the economic implications, nations are hesitant to impose zero-fish imperatives.  New Zealand and Australia have gone so far as to assert that fishing restrictions are far more effective than bans.

Greenpeace Activists are not convinced by this argument and are insist they will not be content with anything less than a total ban.  Campaigner Karli Thomas has been the voice of the organization;

“We’ve looked at the (CCSBT) scientific report that came out last year and from that it’s clear that the only option that’s going to bring about even a modest recovery of the stock is a zero catch,” Thomas told AFP.

“What they (the commission) prioritise time and time again is not just the interests of the fishing industry but the short-term interests of the fishing industry,” said Thomas.

Brian Jeffriess, chief executive of the Australian Southern Bluefin Tuna Industry Association, argues the gloomy predictions are wrong and that bluefin numbers are starting to rise again.

He blamed the poor state of the fishery on Japan, which had admitted overfishing its quotas up to 2006. Since then Japan has accepted a slashing of its quota and increased monitoring. “We are very confident the fishery is on the right track for recovery,” he told AFP, adding he believed fishing quotas should start rising again from 2014.