WWF will encourage governments at the upcoming CITES to take this unique opportunity to haul species back from the brink of extinction before they are lost forever.

Bluefin tuna headline an unprecedented six proposals for commercially exploited marine species, while addressing rampant poaching activity is seen as the key to protecting the most endangered of our terrestrial species.

Overfishing and illegal fishing has been on the rise in order to feed a rapidly expanding market in recent years for sushi and sashimi. This has previously been mainly in Japan, but is increasingly occurring in the United States and Europe as well.

This has seen Alantic bluefin tuna stocks decline by over 85 per cent now compared to maximum historical levels.

A key proposal to ensure their future will be tabled at CITES, where they could be placed on Appendix I of the Convention – the highest level of protection under its appendix system, which would ban all international commercial trade.

Heather Sohl, WWF-UK, wildlife trade officer, said: “Insatiable demand has left the Atlantic bluefin tuna on the brink of extinction. This is the meeting where governments have an opportunity to stop pandering to the short-term interests of a bloated high-tech fishing industry and make a stand. If they don’t we face losing an important species forever.”

While poaching has never left the consciousness of worldwide conservation efforts, increasingly sophisticated poachers backed by greater technology have pushed the levels of illegal hunting into a crisis that demands to be addressed.

Rhino poaching worldwide is at a 15-year high. Poachers have been found to be using veterinary drugs, poison, cross bows and high-calibre weapons. There is also a marked increase in demand in Asia, particularly in Vietnam, that has been fuelled by claims that rhino horn cures cancer.

All 13 tiger range states are signatories to the CITES convention and the meeting comes at a critical time for the endangered predators, as Heather Sohl points out:

“Poaching and illegal trade are the biggest threat to the survival of the tiger”

“Countries have the chance to vote on measures that, if properly enforced, can end all illegal tiger trade for good. With as few as 3,200 wild tigers left, it’s critical that steps are taken now to ensure a future with tigers still in the wild.”

Coming at a point when many of our most beloved species are at a tipping point that could see them disappear from the wild altogether, it is crucial that the countries involved in CITES are able to put a stop to the immediate threat that they face in the short term, but also begin to formulate more long-term plans to ensure a similar crisis will not be faced in future meetings.

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