Journal articles on the topic 'International Convention for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas'

Create a spot-on reference in APA, MLA, Chicago, Harvard, and other styles

Select a source type:

Consult the top 26 journal articles for your research on the topic 'International Convention for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas.'

Next to every source in the list of references, there is an 'Add to bibliography' button. Press on it, and we will generate automatically the bibliographic reference to the chosen work in the citation style you need: APA, MLA, Harvard, Chicago, Vancouver, etc.

You can also download the full text of the academic publication as pdf and read online its abstract whenever available in the metadata.

Browse journal articles on a wide variety of disciplines and organise your bibliography correctly.

1

Straker, Leslie E. "ICCAT: Managing or Documenting?" Marine Technology Society Journal 43, no. 1 (March 1, 2009): 117–26. http://dx.doi.org/10.4031/mtsj.43.1.5.

Full text
Abstract:
AbstractThe International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) is one of the oldest regional fisheries management organizations in the business of providing stewardship to the management of high-seas fish stocks. The Commission came into force in 1969 with eight parties and today consists of 45 contracting parties. Notwithstanding nearly 40 years of experience, this organization is also confronted with the problems of over-exploitation; over-capacity; illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing; lack of adequate scientific information; and the continued decline in important high-seas fish stocks.Despite the moribund state of fish stocks in the ICCAT convention area, the organization has made significant progress with respect to the collection and analysis of fisheries information, recommendations to its parties and the dissemination of this information, all key parts of its broader objective. Nonetheless, the organization has failed to make substantial progress with regard to translating a good analysis and documenting process to the effective conservation of tuna and tuna-like species in the Atlantic. That is, the organization has failed to “close the loop” in management. The question therefore becomes, is the ICCAT merely functioning as a “documenting” organization rather than a “management” organization? This study examines the current state of fisheries stocks in the convention area, the extent to which the Commission is meeting its own mandate, and the extent to which the management principles of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement are being followed by ICCAT.
APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles
2

Peel, Ellen, Russell Nelson, and C. Phillip Goodyear. "Managing Atlantic marlin as bycatch under ICCAT. The fork in the road: recovery or collapse." Marine and Freshwater Research 54, no. 4 (2003): 575. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/mf01266.

Full text
Abstract:
Atlantic billfish (marlin, sailfish and spearfish) are managed under the jurisdiction of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT). Because they are not commonly a target species, most fishing mortality is generated as a function of bycatch in various commercial fisheries. Billfish are very important species for recreational fisheries. The record indicates that ICCAT has placed its greatest emphasis on managing target fish to maximize their catch for ‘food purposes’ and has not placed the same level of emphasis on maximizing catch for ‘other purposes’, such as for the benefit of recreational fisheries.Stock assessments indicate Atlantic marlin are severely overexploited, with the rates of decline showing no signs of slowing. The primary source of billfish mortality is as bycatch in pelagic longline fisheries for tuna and swordfish. Simultaneous fishing mortality rates that will produce maximum sustainable yield (MSY) for at least one targeted tuna species is near the extinction rate for blue marlin. Failure to significantly reduce fishing mortality on marlin by restraining effort on target species has led to the collapse of both blue and white marlin stocks and, if continued indefinitely, may lead to extinction of either species. Although ICCAT's charter does not prioritize management between different types of fisheries, commercial or recreational, or among different species of fish within its authority, the de facto result of ICCAT's actions to date has relegated billfish to the role of bycatch species. The needs of the directed recreational billfish industry have been largely ignored.In the absence of responsible action by ICCAT to reduce fishing mortality on marlin, those concerned with the conservation of billfish will be forced to seek alternative conservation and management assistance through The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and other protected species options. Compatible management solutions now must be identified and implemented by ICCAT if diverse fishing interests are to coexist and the stocks are to return to MSY. Time and area closures and live releases, coupled with some restraints on targeted effort, may offer a solution most acceptable to all fishing interests.
APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles
3

Levesque, Juan C. "International fisheries agreement: Review of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas." Marine Policy 32, no. 3 (May 2008): 528–33. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpol.2007.10.006.

Full text
APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles
4

Restrepo, Victor, Eric D. Prince, Gerry P. Scott, and Yuji Uozumi. "ICCAT stock assessments of Atlantic billfish." Marine and Freshwater Research 54, no. 4 (2003): 361. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/mf02057.

Full text
Abstract:
This paper presents a historical overview of the assessments of the Atlantic stocks of blue marlin (Makaira nigricans), white marlin (Tetrapturus albidus) and sailfish (Istiophorus platypterus) that have been conducted by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas between 1977 and 2000. Details are presented on the data sets used and the models applied, noting the strengths and weaknesses of the assessments. The major causes of uncertainty in the current perception of the status of the stocks are related to some of the data used and to their interpretation, especially historical trends in catch per unit effort. In particular, there are uncertainties about historical catch data, including discards, and about the degree to which longline fishing effort overlaps with billfish habitat. The paper concludes with an account of the efforts that should be made to reduce these uncertainties.
APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles
5

Dahl, Irene Vanja. "International Regulations and Guidelines on Transboundary Salmon Stocks: Case Study of the Tana River." Arctic Review on Law and Politics 11 (2020): 157. http://dx.doi.org/10.23865/arctic.v11.2432.

Full text
Abstract:
The year 2019 was “the international year of the salmon” (IYS). The overarching aim was “to inform and stimulate outreach and research that aspires to establish the conditions necessary to ensure the resilience of salmon and people throughout the Northern Hemisphere;” further, to bring people together, share and develop knowledge, raise awareness and take action. This article is intended as a contribution to this goal. The article discusses how international law: the Law of the Sea Convention, the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Convention for the Conservation of Salmon in the North Atlantic Ocean relate to conservation and management of wild salmon. The article has a special focus on bilateral cooperation on salmon stocks in boundary/transboundary rivers, and using as a case study the Tana river in Norway and Finland.
APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles
6

Tuck, G. N., R. A. Phillips, C. Small, R. B. Thomson, N. L. Klaer, F. Taylor, R. M. Wanless, and H. Arrizabalaga. "An assessment of seabird–fishery interactions in the Atlantic Ocean." ICES Journal of Marine Science 68, no. 8 (September 1, 2011): 1628–37. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsr118.

Full text
Abstract:
Abstract Tuck, G. N., Phillips, R. A., Small, C., Thomson, R. B., Klaer, N. L., Taylor, F., Wanless, R. M., and Arrizabalaga, H. 2011. An assessment of seabird–fishery interactions in the Atlantic Ocean. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 68: 1628–1637. Currently, 17 of 22 albatross species are listed as Vulnerable, Endangered, or Critically endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Incidental mortality in fisheries is by far the most widespread cause of the population declines observed for these and other closely related species. In 2006, the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) requested an assessment of the threat from their fisheries to all seabirds that breed or forage within their jurisdiction. Methods were developed to assess the potential consequences of fishing for more than 60 populations of seabird. The assessment framework involved the identification of at-risk populations, overlap analyses, estimation of total bycatch, and an evaluation of the impact of the bycatch on key selected populations for which there were sufficient data on bird distribution and demography. These were the wandering and black-browed albatrosses of South Georgia and the Atlantic yellow-nosed and Tristan albatrosses of Gough Island. Summary results from the seabird assessment are presented, revealing that ICCAT longline fisheries catch substantial numbers of seabirds, with potentially significant conservation implications. If this mortality is not reduced, the numbers of breeding birds in some populations will continue to decline, threatening their long-term viability.
APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles
7

Jackson, Andrew. "The Convention on the Conservation and Management of Fishery Resources in the South East Atlantic Ocean, 2001: an Introduction." International Journal of Marine and Coastal Law 17, no. 1 (2002): 33–77. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/157180802x00260.

Full text
Abstract:
AbstractThe SEAFO Convention, signed in April 2001, is one of the first new conventions to create a regional fisheries management organisation since the adoption of the UN Fish Stocks Agreement. The negotiating history of the convention, and the way the SEAFO participants dealt with key issues in the international fisheries management, illustrates effective use of the Agreement, even before the entry into force of the Agreement, and while it remains uncertain whether all SEAFO participants will also be bound by the Agreement when it is in force. The SEAFO Convention also deals with discrete high seas stocks, not covered by the Agreement.
APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles
8

Campana, Steven E. "Transboundary movements, unmonitored fishing mortality, and ineffective international fisheries management pose risks for pelagic sharks in the Northwest Atlantic." Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 73, no. 10 (October 2016): 1599–607. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjfas-2015-0502.

Full text
Abstract:
The shortfin mako (Isurus oxyrinchus), porbeagle (Lamna nasus), and blue shark (Prionace glauca) are three frequently caught shark species in the northwestern Atlantic Ocean. Satellite tagging studies show that all three species range widely across many national boundaries but spend up to 92% of their time on the high seas, where they are largely unregulated and unmonitored. All are caught in large numbers by swordfish and tuna fishing fleets from a large number of nations, usually unintentionally, and all are unproductive by fish standards, which makes them particularly sensitive to fishing pressure. Landing statistics that grossly underrepresent actual catches, unreported discards that often exceed landings, and high discard mortality rates are threats to the populations and roadblocks to useful population monitoring. The influence of these threats is greatly magnified by inattention and ineffective management from the responsible management agency, the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), whose prime focus is the more valuable swordfish and tuna stocks. Although practical management options are available, none will be possible if organizations like ICCAT continue to treat sharks like pests.
APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles
9

Carlsson, Jens, Jan R. McDowell, Jeanette E. L. Carlsson, Droplaug Ólafsdóttir, and John E. Graves. "Genetic heterogeneity of Atlantic bluefin tuna caught in the eastern North Atlantic Ocean south of Iceland." ICES Journal of Marine Science 63, no. 6 (January 1, 2006): 1111–17. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.icesjms.2006.04.009.

Full text
Abstract:
Abstract Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) are currently managed by the member nations of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) as distinct western and eastern stocks, separated by the 45°W meridian. Previous studies of Atlantic bluefin tuna caught in the northeast Atlantic south of Norway suggested mixing of putative stocks in the region, based on abrupt shifts in the size and condition of fish during the fishing season. By contrast, more recent studies south of Iceland reported only small differences in size of tuna caught at different times of the season in that area. To better understand the stock structure and composition of Atlantic bluefin tuna in the region, we surveyed genetic variation at eight microsatellite loci for 800 Atlantic bluefin tuna collected in experimental commercial fishing operations south of Iceland during 1999 and 2002. We tested for heterogeneity between years, between seasons within a year, between two fishing areas within the region, and between sexes. Analysis of molecular variation demonstrated slight, but significant, genetic divergence between collections of fish caught early and late in the season over the two years. These results are consistent with prior observations of Atlantic bluefin tuna of different conditions entering the fishery through the season, and suggest that the northeast Atlantic fishery represents a mixed-stock fishery including animals migrating from different areas and recruited from different spawning grounds.
APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles
10

Fiedler, Fernando Niemeyer, Gilberto Sales, Bruno Barros Giffoni, Luiz Rodrigo Maçaneiro, Mariana de Karam e. Britto, Caiame Januário Nascimento, Dagoberto Port, André Silva Barreto, and Paulo Ricardo Schwingel. "Characterization and comparison of Brazilian and foreign leased pelagic longline fleets in the Southwestern Atlantic Ocean between 2003 and 2014. How different are these fisheries?" Revista CEPSUL - Biodiversidade e Conservação Marinha 5 (August 22, 2016): 1–16. http://dx.doi.org/10.37002/revistacepsul.vol5.5991-16.

Full text
Abstract:
The pelagic zone of the Southwestern Atlantic Ocean is an important area for longline fisheries. Brazilian waters are strategic regions for the performance of this modality in International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas - ICCAT. In order to reach international quotas government strengthened its rent policy of foreign vessels aiming to promote technology transfer to the national fleet. Knowledge of vessel characteristics, technology used in equipment and strategies used by skippers are important for the management of this activity. The present study characterized vessels from national and foreign fleets operating out of the port of Itajaí, in the state of Santa Catarina (SC), between 2003 and 2014. Results indicate that these fleets are different in relation to size of vessels, engine power, cargo hold capacity, length of the main and branchlines, and steel wire length. Despite these differences, strategies adopted are critical to achieve better yields per trip. For the national fleet, the skills acquired to the use of equipments, in understanding the behavior of the target species, and change of fishing strategies often compensate for the lack of technology.
APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles
11

Kerstetter, David W., and Jason Schratwieser. "Billfishes in a changing world." ICES Journal of Marine Science 75, no. 2 (March 1, 2018): 840–43. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsy012.

Full text
Abstract:
Abstract The 6th International Billfish Symposium (IBS) was held in September 2016 at the headquarters of the International Game Fish Association in Dania Beach, Florida (USA). In addition to providing a venue for presenting new research on istiophorid and xiphiid billfishes, the IBS’s objective was to highlight known uncertainties about the biology and fisheries of these species, particularly at the level of regional fisheries management organizations, such as the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT). The 6th IBS was attended by 60 participants from seven countries, contributing a total of 34 oral and five poster presentations. One of the other goals of the IBS was to collectively develop a plan for future IBS events. The next IBS is tentatively scheduled for 2021. We summarize here the main outcomes of the 6th IBS and preface the articles presented at the symposium that are included in this article theme set.
APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles
12

Webster, D. G. "Leveraging Competitive Advantages." Journal of Environment & Development 16, no. 1 (March 2007): 8–31. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1070496506298187.

Full text
Abstract:
Contrary to expectations, fishing countries have established relatively effective management plans for a few international fisheries. The model described in this article explains how such multilateral regulation can evolve in spite of strong political and economic barriers to cooperation. Qualitative cases from the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas were used to test the model. Although there was not enough political will to maintain stocks at sustainable levels, fishing countries developed successful rebuilding plans for some overfished stocks. Developing countries played a critical role in this arena because the growth of their fleets provided incentives for developed countries to prefer stronger management. When powerful countries with high costs of production began to lose market share under open access, they turned to negotiated access rights in order to protect their fleets. This system also benefited developing countries when they garnered concessions and side payments for their cooperation.
APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles
13

von Gustedt, Alejandro Alvarez, and Christopher C. Joyner. "The Turbot War of 1995: Lessons for the Law of the Sea." International Journal of Marine and Coastal Law 11, no. 4 (1996): 425–58. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/157180896x00267.

Full text
Abstract:
AbstractCanada's seizure of the Spanish fishing vessel Estai in March 1995 touched off severe political tensions between Canada and the European Community. Known as the "Turbot War", the dispute arose over quota levels agreed to by the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization for turbot stocks in fishing grounds straddling the high seas beyond Canada's proclaimed 200-mile national fishery zone. While underscoring tensions between coastal states and foreign fishing nations, this dispute became a diplomatic catalyst for the promulgation in August 1995 of a special UN Convention on the Conservation and Management of Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Stocks. The "Turbot War" thus highlighted the utility of regional fishery organizations in monitoring and enforcing international fishing regulations and strengthened the international regulatory framework for managing straddling stocks under the 1982 LOS Convention.
APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles
14

Ribeiro, Marta Chantal. "South Atlantic Perspectives on the Future International Legally Binding Instrument under the losc on Conservation and Sustainable Use of bbnj." International Journal of Marine and Coastal Law 32, no. 4 (November 7, 2017): 733–64. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/15718085-13204017.

Full text
Abstract:
Abstract The article focuses on the ocean governance systems of the South Atlantic Ocean aiming to contribute to the on-going debate concerning the development of an international legally binding instrument (ilbi) under the un Convention on the Law of the Sea on conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction (bbnj). For this purpose, a broad definition of South Atlantic Ocean has been adopted. The regional treaties and global initiatives relevant for the area are analysed in the context of discussions addressing bbnj. It also evaluated the importance of submissions to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf concerning the region. The main conclusion is that an ilbi is needed to supplement non-existent or insufficient ocean governance systems in the region and to strengthen and foster the progress of the regional ocean’s governance framework, provided that crucial factors such as transfer of technology and capacity-building are adequately addressed.
APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles
15

Goodyear, C. Phillip. "Spatio-temporal distribution of longline catch per unit effort, sea surface temperature and Atlantic marlin." Marine and Freshwater Research 54, no. 4 (2003): 409. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/mf01255.

Full text
Abstract:
Atlantic blue and white marlin are currently overfished, primarily as a result of bycatch in pelagic longlines directed at other species. One possible management measure to reduce fishing mortality on these species would be to restrict fishing effort in times and places with exceptionally high marlin catch per unit effort (CPUE). The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas maintains a database of catch and catch-effort statistics of participating nations. These data were analysed to determine whether the distribution of CPUE is sufficiently heterogeneous in time and space that such measures might provide meaningful management alternatives. The resulting distributions of catch rates were also contrasted with monthly average sea surface temperatures to examine the possible association between temperature and CPUE. The results show spatio-temporal heterogeneity in catch rates that may be partly explained by seasonal changes in sea surface temperatures. The time–area concentrations of high CPUE differ between the species. This observed heterogeneity might be exploited to develop alternatives for reducing fishing mortality for future management of the fisheries, but additional research is needed to refine the spatial scale of the analysis and to more fully understand the factors contributing to the observed distribution.
APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles
16

Oxman, Bernard H., and Barbara Kwiatkowska. "ICJ jurisdiction under the optional clause—relevance of legality of acts to validity of reservation to jurisdiction made in contemplation of such acts—high seas—conservation and management measures." American Journal of International Law 93, no. 2 (April 1999): 502–7. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2998004.

Full text
Abstract:
Fisheries Jurisdiction (Spain v. Canada), Jurisdiction.International Court of Justice, December 4, 1998.On May 10, 1994, Canada filed an amended declaration accepting the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice (ICJ). New paragraph 2(d) excluded “disputes arising out of or concerning conservation and management measures taken by Canada with respect to vessels fishing in die NAFO Regulatory Area, as defined in the Convention on Future Multilateral Cooperation in the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries, 1978, and the enforcement of such measures.” Two days later, the Canadian Coastal Fisheries Protection Act (CFPA) and implementing regulations were amended to authorize the enforcement under certain circumstances of conservation measures applicable to foreign fishing vessels in the high seas areas to which the reservation adverted.
APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles
17

Ferrette, Bruno Lopes da Silva, Rodrigo Rodrigues Domingues, Matheus Marcos Rotundo, Marina Provetti Miranda, Ingrid Vasconcellos Bunholi, Juliana Beltramin De Biasi, Claudio Oliveira, Fausto Foresti, and Fernando Fernandes Mendonça. "DNA Barcode Reveals the Bycatch of Endangered Batoids Species in the Southwest Atlantic: Implications for Sustainable Fisheries Management and Conservation Efforts." Genes 10, no. 4 (April 18, 2019): 304. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/genes10040304.

Full text
Abstract:
Today, elasmobranchs are one the most threatened vertebrate groups worldwide. In fact, at least 90% of elasmobranch species are listed in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, while more than 40% are data-deficient. Although these vertebrates are mainly affected by unsustainable fishery activities, bycatch is also one of the major threats to sharks and batoids worldwide, and represents a challenge for both sustainable fishery management and for biodiversity and conservational efforts. Thus, in this study, DNA barcode methodology was used to identify the bycatch composition of batoid species from small-scale industrial fisheries in the southwest Atlantic and artisanal fisheries from southeast Brazil. A total of 228 individuals belonging to four Chondrichthyes orders, seven families, and at least 17 distinct batoid species were sequenced; among these individuals, 131 belonged to species protected in Brazil, 101 to globally threatened species, and some to species with trade restrictions provided by Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). These results highlight the impacts on marine biodiversity of bycatch by small-scale industrial and unmanaged artisanal fisheries from the southwest Atlantic, and support the implementation of DNA-based methodologies for species-specific identification in data-poor fisheries as a powerful tool for improving the quality of fisheries’ catch statistics and for keeping precise bycatch records.
APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles
18

Kell, Laurence T., and Jean-Marc Fromentin. "Evaluation of the robustness of maximum sustainable yield based management strategies to variations in carrying capacity or migration pattern of Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus)." Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 64, no. 5 (May 1, 2007): 837–47. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/f07-051.

Full text
Abstract:
In this study, we examine the performances of current stock assessment methods with respect to their ability to (i) provide estimates of maximum sustainable yield (MSY), FMSY, and BMSY and (ii) assess stock status and exploitation level relative to MSY targets. The robustness of the current International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) management strategy is then evaluated with respect to uncertainty about the true population dynamics and contrasted with a simpler management strategy based solely on a size limit. Reference points are more robust to dynamic uncertainty than the estimates of absolute values and trends in F and spawning stock biomass. However, their performances depend on the underlying dynamics (they perform better when fluctuations come from changes in the carrying capacity than migration) and on when they are implemented relative to the intrinsic cycle of the population. Reference points based on F were less biased and more precise than those based on biomass and (or) yield. Although F0.1 appeared to be the best proxy for FMSY, it cannot indicate past and current levels of exploitation relative to FMSY when there is uncertainty about the dynamics. Finally, the F0.1 management strategy of ICCAT performed only slightly better than a simpler strategy based on size limit and led to lower catch levels.
APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles
19

Scarano, Fabio Rubio, and José Maria Cardoso da Silva. "Production and international trade: challenges for achieving targets 6 and 11 of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation in Brazil." Rodriguésia 69, no. 4 (December 2018): 1577–85. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/2175-7860201869408.

Full text
Abstract:
Abstract Target 6 of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity states that by 2020 at least 75% of production lands in each sector will be managed sustainably, consistent with the conservation of plant diversity. Target 11 stipulates that by 2020 no species of the wild flora will be threatened by international trade. Both targets, therefore, are related to production, consumption and trade, which must be sustainable if the targets are to be achieved. Here we examine Brazil's progress in achieving these two targets. We focus on the three economic sectors of agriculture, cattle raising and forestry, which are historically responsible for most of the native-ecosystem conversion in the country and in South America. Brazil has set a number of innovative policies for moving these sectors towards a sustainable path. However, the country needs to put these policies into action to generate tangible results. The results of all efforts so far are mixed. Whereas ecosystem conversion due to the expansion of rural production and the volume of illegal international logging trade have been reduced significantly, the absolute number of hectares of native ecosystems converted into cropland, pastureland or planted forests remains high, especially in Amazonia and the Cerrado. In addition, the number of species threatened by illegal timber exploration remains high mainly in Amazonia and the Atlantic forest.
APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles
20

Kock, Karl-Hermann. "Fishing and conservation in southern waters Karl-Hermann Kock." Polar Record 30, no. 172 (January 1994): 3–22. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0032247400020994.

Full text
Abstract:
AbstractIn the Southern Ocean, fishing for finfish began in 1969/70 and for krill in 1972/73. The Soviet Union was the most important fishing nation, taking 80–90% of the entire catch. More than 3 million tonnes of finfish wereharvested prior to 1992/93, most of the catch coming from around South Georgia and lies Kerguelen. After 15 years of exploitation, most fish stocks were heavily depleted. The krill catch from the Southern Ocean has been 4.9 million tonnes to date. More than 90% of this catch has originated from the Atlantic sector. 50–90% is taken from the foraging range of land-based predators during the critical period of their breeding cycle when they raise their young. This creates the potential for direct competition between krill fisheries and krill-dependent predators. Potential impacts of krill and finfishing on the ecosystems of the Southern Ocean range from endangering recruitment due to the by-catch of juvenile fish in the krill fishery to incidental mortality of birds during longline operations and the entanglement of seals in fragments of discarded or lost fishing gear.Most fish stocks had already been over-exploited before the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) came into force in 1982. Stringent conservation measures to halt the further decline of the stocks have been implemented only since 1989. There is evidence that some fish stocks have started to recover recently. Precautionary catch limits for krill of 1.5 million tonnes for the Atlantic sector (Statistical Area 48), and of 390, 000 tonnes for Statistical Division 58. 4.2 in the Indian sector, were set in 1991 and 1992, respectively. CCAMLR has implemented a number of conservation measures to safeguard other components of the marine ecosystems from fishing. CCAMLR adopted a system of inspection in 1989/90 and a scheme of international scientific observation in 1992. It is too early to judge the efficacy of these enforcement and data-gathering programmes.There is a growing recognition in CCAMLR of the need for preventati ve measures in circumstances of biological uncertainty. The development of multi-species management models appears to be remote at present. The way forward is likely to be a single-species model for the krill fishery, which needs to take implicit account of the demands of natural predators, particularly at small scales. If demersal fish stocks are able to recover to their maximum sustainable yield level, the fishery potential of the Southern Ocean is likely to be much larger than current catches. The fishery potential of krill and mesopelagic lanternfish is likely to exceed that of demersal fish stocks by an order of magnitude. By contrast with the 1970s and 1980s, when most fisheries were subsidized, economic considerations and market demands will be the primary determinants of the development of fishing in southern waters during the 1990s.
APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles
21

NAVEDO, JUAN G., JOSÉ A. MASERO, JUAN M. SÁNCHEZ-GUZMÁN, JOSÉ M. ABAD-GÓMEZ, JORGE S. GUTIÉRREZ, ESTHER G. SANSÓN, AUXILIADORA VILLEGAS, EMILIO COSTILLO, CASIMIRO CORBACHO, and RICARDO MORÁN. "International importance of Extremadura, Spain, for overwintering migratory dabbling ducks: a role for reservoirs." Bird Conservation International 22, no. 3 (December 5, 2011): 316–27. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0959270911000311.

Full text
Abstract:
SummaryMany migratory waterbird populations are in decline and loss of natural wetlands is one of the main causes. However, some species may respond positively to artificial wetland recreation. In Extremadura (south-west Europe), several large reservoirs were created for irrigation since the 1960s and some comparatively small reservoirs were built from the late 1990s onwards close to rice fields. Here we analyse the abundance of wintering dabbling ducks (Anas spp.) in Extremadura before (1991–1994) and after (2007–2010) the creation of these new reservoirs in order to address the current importance of the area for this guild within the East Atlantic Flyway (EAF). A mean of 25,277 dabbling ducks wintered in the study area during 1991–1994, increasing to 46,163 individuals during 2007–2010. After controlling for environmental variables, Northern Pintail Anas acuta, Common Teal A. crecca and Northern Shoveler A. clypeata experienced significant increases in the area between both periods, and only Eurasian Wigeon A. penelope suffered a significant decrease. Mallard A. platyrhynchos and Gadwall A. strepera populations did not show any significant trend. The large older reservoirs experienced overall population decreases between the two periods, with four new reservoirs holding more than 35,000 wintering dabbling ducks. Our results reflect an overall improvement in habitat conditions, driven by the creation of reservoirs near to rice fields that could have resulted in a partial redistribution of wintering dabbling ducks in the EAF. The area emerges as one of the most important wintering sites for dabbling ducks in southern Europe, regularly exceeding two of the Ramsar Convention criteria for the conservation of several populations. The protection of these new reservoirs by legal mechanisms would guarantee the existence of a large functional wetland area, which could also mitigate the loss of natural wetlands for populations using the EAF.
APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles
22

Gudev, P. "Non-Military Treats to the Arctic Security." World Economy and International Relations 60, no. 2 (2016): 72–82. http://dx.doi.org/10.20542/0131-2227-2016-60-2-72-82.

Full text
Abstract:
The supposed ice melting process leads to a fundamental change in the geopolitical status of the Arctic region: it is becoming more open to different kinds of maritime activities implementation, including navigation, commercial fishing, mineral and energy resources extraction. Not only the Arctic Five (A5) countries, whose coasts are directly washed by the Arctic Ocean, are interested in their realization, but non-regional states also. The 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) gives them such opportunities. According to UNCLOS, the central part of the Arctic Ocean beyond the 200-mile exclusive economic zones (EEZ) of the Arctic countries can be considered as a high seas enclave, with all freedoms of the high seas: of navigation; of overflight; of fishing; of scientific research; freedom to lay submarine cables and pipelines; to construct artificial islands and other installations. The high seas are open to all states, whether coastal or land-locked, which have equal rights here. In addition, it should be noted that other countries have a right to carry out certain practical activities associated with three (out of six) freedoms named above: of navigation (with some restrictions under Article 234 of UNCLOS); of overflight; freedom to lay submarine cables and pipelines – within the Arctic states EEZ. The appearance of new Arctic players interested in its spaces and resources is connected with significant increase in risks and threats, primarily non-military. This is largely due to fundamental differences between the Arctic Ocean and other sea areas, such as the Indian or Atlantic Ocean. Among these differences: only five Arctic states are washed by the Arctic Ocean’s waters; shallow depth; small total area; a significant length of the shelf zone; special climate conditions, including ice cap; finally – ecological vulnerability. In this regard, the process of the Arctic region’s opening for different kinds of maritime activities implementation poses a problem of the environmental security, protection and preservation of the marine environment and its biological diversity. Despite the fact that security issues in their traditional interpretation are not under the jurisdiction of the Arctic Council, its primary environmental focus indicates that these issues are directly correlated with the main area of its activities. Anyway, the modern interpretation of the "security" concept includes not only a "military", but also an “environmental” component. For the Arctic states, whose geographical position makes them the first victims of any environmental disaster in the region, the provision of environmental security should be the main priority in their mutual policies. The most effective model for the non-military security threats response in the Arctic is cooperation and coordination between all Arctic states at the regional level. One of the problems in the way is that the Arctic Ocean could not be compared with the Baltic and Mediterranean Seas, to which the Article 123 of the UNCLOS "Cooperation of States Bordering Enclosed or Semi-Enclosed Seas" provides the states' right to “coordinate the management, conservation, exploration and exploitation of the living resources of the sea”, and to “coordinate the implementation of their rights and duties with respect to the protection and preservation of the marine environment”. However, the recent transformation of the international maritime law gives Arctic countries some opportunities in this area. First, the regime of the high seas is becoming less conducive for implementation of specific types of maritime activities. In the future, we can expect that the extent of regulation in this area of the World ocean will be significantly increased. The implementation of the high seas freedoms is largely conditioned by the realization of the tasks to protect and preserve the marine environment and its biodiversity. Second, there is a continuing practice of expanding the authority of coastal states in their jurisdiction zones, especially in the EEZ. Despite the fact that the coastal state is not granted any competence in the field of the EEZ security, the practice of a broad interpretation of the “security” concept includes food, resource and environment security. The enforcement of such security regimes is becoming an increasingly common practice, even though it imposes certain restrictions for third countries’ rights in these sea areas. Finally, the adoption of security measures in the EEZ, on one hand, and at the high sea, on the other, should be recognized interdependent and considered all together. In the near future, the number of potential security threats can be significantly expanded due to the increase in the number of maritime activities participants. In addition to the already existing non-military threats (pollution of the marine environment; illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing), new threats may appear: armed robbery of ships (piracy); acts of terrorism affecting both the shipping and offshore installations (oil and gas platforms); illegal transportation of weapons, including weapons of mass destruction (WMD); illegal transportation of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances; illegal movement of people by sea, including illegal migration. An effective response to these types of threats requires not only individual efforts of the Arctic Five countries, but also collective security measures. In this regard, in order to create a regional security model, the development of collaboration and cooperation between the Arctic countries is essential. Acknowledgements. The article was prepared within the Russian Humanitarian Scientifi c Foundation Project No. 14-07-00050 “Institutions and Principles of Supranational Governance Formation in World Politics: Concepts and Activities”.
APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles
23

GONÇALVES, LEANDRA REGINA. "IS POWER LISTENING TO SCIENCE? THE CASE OF ICCAT AND THE EASTERN BLUEFIN TUNA (2004-2014)." Ambiente & Sociedade 22 (2019). http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/1809-4422asoc20170261r1vu2019l2ao.

Full text
Abstract:
Abstract During the international tuna fishery management crisis in 2009, an epistemic community emerged at the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) that employed collective efforts to deal with shared problems and improved the effectiveness of agreements, in terms of the recovery of Eastern Blue Fin Tuna (EBFT) stocks. This event resulted in the question: when and why does power listen to science? Through a combination of elite interviews and process tracing, this investigation analyzed the roles and influences of science and epistemic communities in the ICCAT EBFT political decisions, from 2004 to 2014. We have concluded that the EBFT case illustrates a situation where effective agreements to handle a fishery crisis in an uncertain environment were enhanced, when a transnational network of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), helped to pressure the decision-makers.
APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles
24

Gonçalves, Leandra Regina. "The role of Brazil in the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT)." Revista Brasileira de Política Internacional 62, no. 2 (2019). http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/0034-7329201900201.

Full text
APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles
25

Drazen, Jeffrey, Craig Smith, Kristina Gjerde, Whitlow Au, Jesse Black, Glenn Carter, Malcolm Clark, et al. "Report of the workshop Evaluating the nature of midwater mining plumes and their potential effects on midwater ecosystems." Research Ideas and Outcomes 5 (February 6, 2019). http://dx.doi.org/10.3897/rio.5.e33527.

Full text
Abstract:
The International Seabed Authority (ISA) is developing regulations to control the future exploitation of deep-sea mineral resources including sulphide deposits near hydrothermal vents, polymetallic nodules on the abyssal seafloor, and cobalt crusts on seamounts. Under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea the ISA is required to adopt are taking measures to ensure the effective protection of the marine environment from harmful effects arising from mining-related activities. Contractors are required to generate environmental baselines and assess the potential environmental consequences of deep seafloor mining. Understandably, nearly all environmental research has focused on the seafloor where the most direct mining effects will occur. However, sediment plumes and other impacts (e.g., noise) from seafloor mining are likely to be extensive in the water column. Sediment plumes created on the seafloor will affect the benthic boundary layer which extends 10s to 100s of meters above the seafloor. Separation or dewatering of ore from sediment and seawater aboard ships will require discharge of a dewatering plume at some depth in the water column. It is important to consider the potential impacts of mining on the ocean’s midwaters (depths from ~200 m to the seafloor) because they provide vital ecosystem services and harbor substantial biodiversity. The better known epipelagic or sunlit surface ocean provisions the rest of the water column through primary production and export flux (This was not the focus at this workshop as the subject was considered too large and surface discharges are unlikely). It is also home to a diverse community of organisms including commercially important fishes such as tunas, billfish, and cephalopods that contribute to the economies of many countries. The mesopelagic or twilight zone (200-1000 m) is dimly lit and home to very diverse and abundant communities of organisms. Mesopelagic plankton and small nekton form the forage base for many deep-diving marine mammals and commercially harvested epipelagic species. Furthermore, detritus from the epipelagic zone falls through the mesopelagic where it is either recycled, providing the vital process of nutrient regeneration, or sinks to greater depths sequestering carbon from short-term atmospheric cycles. The waters below the mesopelagic down to the seafloor (both the bathypelagic and abyssopelagic) are very poorly characterized but are likely large reservoirs of novel biodiversity and link the surface and benthic ecosystems. Great strides have been made in understanding the biodiversity and ecosystem function of the ocean’s midwaters, but large regions, including those containing many exploration license areas and the greater depths where mining plumes will occur, remain very poorly studied. It is clear that pelagic communities are distinct from those on the seafloor and in the benthic boundary layer. They are often sampled with different instrumentation. The fauna have relatively large biogeographic ranges and they are more apt to mix freely across stakeholder boundaries, reference areas and other spatial management zones. Pelagic organisms live in a three-dimensional habitat and their food webs and populations are vertically connected by daily or lifetime migrations and the sinking flux of detritus from the epipelagic. The fauna do not normally encounter hard surfaces, making them fragile, and difficult to capture and maintain for sensitivity or toxicity studies. Despite some existing general knowledge, ecological baselines for midwater communities and ecosystems that likely will be impacted by mining have not been documented. There is an urgent need to conduct more research and evaluate the midwater biota (microbes to fishes) in regions where mining is likely to occur. Deep-sea mining activities may affect midwater organisms in a number of ways, but it is still unclear at what scale perturbations may occur. The sediment plumes both from collectors on the seafloor and from midwater discharge will have a host of negative consequences. They may cause respiratory distress from clogged gills or respiratory surfaces. Suspension feeders, such as copepods, polychaetes, salps, and appendicularians, that filter small particles from the water and form an important basal group of the food web, may suffer from dilution of their food by inorganic sediments and/or clogging of their fragile mucous filter nets. Small particles may settle on gelatinous plankton causing buoyancy issues. Metals, including toxic elements that will enter the food web, will be released from pore waters and crushed ore materials. Sediment plumes will also absorb light and change backscatter properties, reducing visual communication and bioluminescent signaling that are very important for prey capture and reproduction in midwater animals. Noise from mining activities may alter the behaviors of marine mammals and other animals. Small particles have high surface area to volume ratios, high pelagic persistence and dispersal and as a result greater potential to result in pelagic impacts. All of these potential effects will result in mortality, migration (both horizontal and vertical), decreased fitness, and shifts in community composition. Depending on the scale and duration of these effects, there could be reduction in provisioning to commercial fish species, delivery of toxic metals to pelagic food webs and hence human seafood supply, and alterations to carbon transport and nutrient regeneration services. After four days of presentations and discussions, the workshop participants came to several conclusions and synthesized recommendations. 1. Assuming no discharge in the epipelagic zone, it is essential to minimize mining effects in the mesopelagic zone because of links to our human seafood supply as well as other ecosystem services provided by the mesopelagic fauna. This minimization could be accomplished by delivering dewatering discharge well below the mesopelagic/bathypelagic transition (below ~1000 m depth). 2. Research should be promoted by the ISA and other bodies to study the bathypelagic and abyssopelagic zones (from ~1000 m depths to just above the seafloor). It is likely that both collector plumes and dewatering plumes will be created in the bathypelagic, yet this zone is extremely understudied and contains major unknowns for evaluating mining impacts. 3. Management objectives, regulations and management actions need to prevent the creation of a persistent regional scale “haze” (enhanced suspended particle concentrations) in pelagic midwaters. Such a haze would very likely cause chronic harm to deep midwater ecosystem biodiversity, structure and function. 4. Effort is needed to craft suitable standards, thresholds, and indicators of harmful environmental effects that are appropriate to pelagic ecosystems. In particular, suspension feeders are very important ecologically and are likely to be very sensitive to sediment plumes. They are a high priority for study. 5. Particularly noisy mining activities such as ore grinding at seamounts and hydrothermal vents is of concern to deep diving marine mammals and other species. One way to minimize sound impacts would be to minimize activities in the sound-fixing-and-ranging (SOFAR) channel (typically at depths of ~1000 m) which transmits sounds over very long distances. 6. A Lagrangian (drifting) perspective is needed in monitoring and management because the pelagic ecosystem is not a fixed habitat and mining effects are likely to cross spatial management boundaries. For example, potential broad-scale impacts to pelagic ecosystems should be considered in the deliberations over preservation reference zones, the choice of stations for environmental baseline and monitoring studies and other area-based management and conservation measures. 7. Much more modeling and empirical study of realistic mining sediment plumes is needed. Plume models will help evaluate the spatial and temporal extent of pelagic (as well as benthic) ecosystem effects and help to assess risks from different technologies and mining scenarios. Plume modeling should include realistic mining scenarios (including duration) and assess the spatial-temporal scales over which particle concentrations exceed baseline levels and interfere with light transmission to elucidate potential stresses on communities and ecosystem services. Models should include both near and far field-phases, incorporating realistic near field parameters of plume generation, flocculation, particle sinking, and other processes. It is important to note that some inputs to these models such as physical oceanographic parameters are lacking and should be acquired in the near-term. Plume models need to be complemented by studies to understand effects on biological components by certain particle sizes and concentrations.
APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles
26

Johnston, Kate Sarah. "“Dal Sulcis a Sushi”: Tradition and Transformation in a Southern Italian Tuna Fishing Community." M/C Journal 17, no. 1 (March 18, 2014). http://dx.doi.org/10.5204/mcj.764.

Full text
Abstract:
I miss the ferry to San Pietro, so after a long bus trip winding through the southern Sardinian rocky terrain past gum trees, shrubs, caper plants, and sheep, I take refuge from the rain in a bar at the port. While I order a beer and panini, the owner, a man in his early sixties, begins to chat asking me why I’m heading to the island. For the tuna, I say, to research cultural practices and changes surrounding the ancient tuna trap la tonnara, and for the Girotonno international tuna festival, which coincides with the migration of the Northern Bluefin Tuna and the harvest season. This year the slogan of the festival reads Dal Sulcis a Sushi ("From Sulcis to Sushi"), a sign of the diverse tastes to come. Tuna here is the best in the world, he exclaims, a sentiment I hear many times over whilst doing fieldwork in southern Italy. He excitedly gestures for me to follow. We walk into the kitchen and on a long steel bench sits a basin covered with cloth. He uncovers it, and proudly poised, waits for my reaction. A large pinkish-brown loin of cooked tuna sits in brine. I have never tasted tuna in this way, so to share in his enthusiasm I conjure my interest in the rich tuna gastronomy found in this area of Sardinia called Sulcis. I’m more familiar with the clean taste of sashimi or lightly seared tuna. As I later experience, traditional tuna preparations in San Pietro are far from this. The most notable characteristic is that the tuna is thoroughly cooked or the flesh or organs are preserved with salt by brining or drying. A tuna steak cooked in the oven is robust and more like meat from the land than the sea in its flavours, colour, and texture. This article is about taste: the taste of, and tastes for, tuna in a traditional fishing community. It is based on ethnographic fieldwork and is part of a wider inquiry into the place of tradition and culture in seafood sustainability discourses and practices. In this article I use the notion of a taste network to explore the relationship between macro forces—international markets, stock decline and marine regulations—and transformations within local cultures of tuna production and consumption. Taste networks frame the connections between taste in a gustatory sense, tastes as an aesthetic preference and tasting as a way of learning about and attuning to modes and meanings surrounding tuna. As Antoine Hennion asserts, taste is more than a connoisseurship of an object, taste represents a cultural activity that concerns a wide range of practices, exchanges and attachments. Elspeth Probyn suggests that taste “acts as a connector between history, place, things, and people” (65) and “can also come to form communities: local places that are entangled in the global” (62). Within this framework, taste moves away from Bourdieu’s notion of taste as a social distinction towards an understanding of taste as created through a network of entities—social, biological, technological, and so forth. It turns attention to the mundane activities and objects of tuna production and consumption, the components of a taste network, and the everyday spaces where tradition and transformation are negotiated. For taste to change requires a transformation of the network (or components of that network) that bring such tastes into existence. These networks and their elements form the very meaning, matter, and moments of tradition and culture. As Hennion reminds us through his idea of “reservoir(s) of difference” (100), there are a range of diverse tastes that can materialise from the interactions of humans with objects, in this case tuna. Yet, taste networks can also be rendered obsolete. When a highly valued and endangered species like Bluefin is at the centre of such networks, there are material, ethical, and even political limitations to some tastes. In a study that follows three scientists as they attempt to address scallop decline in Brest and St Brieuc Bay, Michael Callon advocates for “the abandonment of all prior distinction between the natural and the social” (1). He draws attention to networks of actors and significant moments, rather than pre-existing categories, to figure the contours of power. This approach is particularly useful for social research that involves science, technology and the “natural” world. In my own research in San Pietro, the list of human and non-human actors is long and spans the local to the global: Bluefin (in its various meanings and as an entity with its own agency), tonnara owners, fishermen, technologies, fish shops and restaurants, scientific observers, policy (local, regional, national, European and international), university researchers, the sea, weather, community members, Japanese and Spanish buyers, and markets. Local discourses surrounding tuna and taste articulate human and non-human entanglements in quite particular ways. In San Pietro, as with much of Italy, notions of place, environment, identity, quality, and authenticity are central to the culture of tuna production and consumption. Food products are connected to place through ecological, cultural and technological dimensions. In Morgan, Marsden, and Murdoch’s terms this frames food and tastes in relation to a spatial dimension (its place of origin), a social dimension (its methods of production and distribution), and a cultural dimension (its perceived qualities and reputation). The place name labelling of canned tuna from San Pietro is an example of a product that represents the notion of provenance. The practice of protecting traditional products is well established in Italy through appellation programs, much like the practice of protecting terroir products in France. It is no wonder that the eco-gastronomic movement Slow Food developed in Italy as a movement to protect traditional foods, production methods, and biodiversity. Such discourses and movements like Slow Food create local/global frameworks and develop in relation to the phenomenon and ideas like globalisation, industrialization, and homogenisation. This study is based on ethnographic fieldwork in San Pietro over the 2013 tuna season. This included interviews with some thirty participants (fishers, shop keepers, locals, restaurateurs, and tonnara owners), secondary research into international markets, marine regulations, and environmental movements, and—of course—a gustatory experience of tuna. Walking down the main street the traditions of the tonnara and tuna are palpable. On a first impression there’s something about the streets and piazzas that is akin to Zukin’s notion of “vernacular spaces”, “sources of identity and belonging, affective qualities that the idea of intangible culture expresses, refines and sustains” (282). At the centre is the tonnara, which refers to the trap (a labyrinth of underwater nets) as well as the technique of tuna fishing and land based processing activities. For centuries, tuna and the tonnara have been at the centre of community life, providing employment, food security, and trade opportunities, and generating a wealth of ecological knowledge, a rich gastronomy based on preserved tuna, and cultural traditions like the famous harvest ritual la mattanza (the massacre). Just about every organ is preserved by salting and drying. The most common is the female ovary sac, which becomes bottarga. Grated onto pasta it has a strong metallic offal flavour combined with the salty tang of the sea. There is also the male equivalent lusciami, a softer consistency and flavour, as well as dried heart and lungs. There is canned tuna, a continuation of the tradition of brining and barrelling, but these are no ordinary cans. Each part of the tuna is divided into parts corresponding loosely to anatomy but more closely to quality based on textures, colour, and taste. There is the ventresca from the belly, the most prized cut because of its high fat content. Canned in olive oil or brine, a single can of this cut sells for around 30 Euros. Both the canned variety or freshly grilled ventresca is a sumptuous experience, soft and rich. Change is not new to San Pietro. In the long history of the tonnara there have been numerous transformations resulting from trade, occupation, and dominant economic systems. As Stefano Longo describes, with the development of capitalism and industrialization, the socio-economic structure of the tonnara changed and there was a dramatic decline in tonnare (plural) throughout the 1800s. The tonnare also went through different phases of ownership. In 1587 King Philip II formally established the Sardinian tonnare (Emery). Phillip IV then sold a tonnara to a Genovese man in 1654 and, from the late 18th century until today, the tonnara has remained in the Greco family from Genova. There were also changes to fishing and preservation technologies, such as the replacement of barrels after the invention of the can in the early 1800s, and innovations to recipes, as for example in the addition of olive oil. Yet, compared to recent changes, the process of harvesting, breaking down and sorting flesh and organs, and preserving tuna, has remained relatively stable. The locus of change in recent years concerns the harvest, the mattanza. For locals this process seems to be framed with concepts of before, and after, the Japanese arrived on the island. Owner Giuliano Greco, a man in his early fifties who took over the management of the tonnara from his father when it reopened in the late 1990s, describes these changes: We have two ages—before the Japanese and after. Before the Japanese, yes, the tuna was damaged. It was very violent in the mattanza. In the age before the pollution, there was a crew of 120 people divided in a little team named the stellati. The more expert and more important at the centre of the boat, the others at the side because at the centre there was more tuna. When there was mattanza it was like a race, a game, because if they caught more tuna they had more entrails, which was good money for them, because before, part of the wage was in nature, part of the tuna, and for this game the tuna was damaged because they opened it with a knife, the heart, the eggs etc. And for this method it was very violent because they wanted to get the tuna entrails first. The tuna remained on the boat without ice, with blood everywhere. The tonnara operated within clear social hierarchies made up of tonnarotti (tuna fishermen) under the guidance of the Rais (captain of tonnara) whose skills, charisma and knowledge set him apart. The Rais liaised with the tonnarotti, the owners, and the local community, recruiting men and women to augment the workforce in the mattanza period. Goliardo Rivano, a tonnarotto (singular) since 1999 recalls “all the town would be called on for the mattanza. Not only men but women too would work in the cannery, cutting, cleaning, and canning the tuna.” The mattanza was the starting point of supply and consumption networks. From the mattanza the tuna was broken down, the flesh boiled and brined for local and foreign markets, and the organs salted and dried for the (mainly) local market. Part of the land-based activities of tonnarotti involved cleaning, salting, pressing and drying the organs, which supplemented their wage. As Giuliano described, the mattanza was a bloody affair because of the practice of retrieving the organs; but since the tuna was boiled and then preserved in brine, it was not important whether the flesh was damaged. At the end of the 1970s the tonnara closed. According to locals and reportage, pollution from a nearby factory had caused a drastic drop in tuna. It remained closed until the mid 1990s when Japanese buyers came to inquire about tuna from the trap. Global tastes for tuna had changed during the time the tonnara was closed. An increase in western appetites for sushi had been growing since the early 1970s (Bestore). As Theadore Bestore describes in detail, this coincided with a significant transformation of the Japanese fishing industry’s international role. In the 1980s, the Japanese government began to restructure its fleets in response to restricted access to overseas fishing grounds, which the declaration of Excusive Economic Zones enforced (Barclay and Koh). At this time, Japan turned to foreign suppliers for tuna (Bestore). Kate Barclay and Sun-Hui Koh describe how quantity was no longer a national food security issue like it had been in post war Japan and “consumers started to demand high-quality high-value products” (145). In the late 1990s, the Greco family reopened the tonnara and the majority of the tuna went to Japan leaving a smaller portion for the business of canning. The way mattanza was practiced underwent profound changes and particular notions of quality emerged. This was also the beginning of new relationships and a widening of the taste network to include international stakeholders: Japanese buyers and markets became part of the network. Giuliano refers to the period as the “Japanese Age”. A temporal framing that is iterated by restaurant and fish shop owners who talk about a time when Japanese began to come to the island and have the first pick of the tuna. Giuliano recalls “there was still blood but there was not the system of opening tuna, in total, like before. Now the tuna is opened on the land. The only operation we do on the boat is blooding and chilling.” Here he references the Japanese technique of ikejime. Over several years the technicians taught Giuliano and some of the crew about killing the tuna faster and bleeding it to maintain colour and freshness. New notions of quality and taste for raw or lightly cooked tuna entered San Pietro. According to Rais Luigi “the tuna is of higher quality, because we treat it in a particular way, with ice.” Giuliano describes the importance of quality. “Before they used the stellati and it took five people, each one with a harpoon to haul the tuna. Now they only use one hook, in the mouth and use a chain, by hand. On board there is bleeding, and there is blood, but now we must keep the quality of the meat at its best.” In addition to the influence of Japanese tastes, the international Girotonno tuna festival had its inauguration in 2003, and, along with growing tourism, brought cosmopolitan and international tastes to San Pietro. The impact of a global taste for tuna has had devastating effects on their biomass. The international response to the sharp decline was the expansion of the role of inter-governmental monitoring bodies like International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), the introduction of quotas, and an increase in the presence of marine authorities on fleets, scientific research and environmental campaigns. In San Pietro, international relationships further widened and so did the configuration of taste networks, this time to include marine regulators, a quota on Bluefin, a Spanish company, and tuna ranches in Malta. The mattanza again was at the centre of change and became a point of contention within the community. This time because as a practice it is endangered, occurring only once or twice a year, “for the sake of tradition, culture” as Giuliano stated. The harvest now takes place in ranches in Malta because for the last three years the Greco family have supplied the tonnara’s entire quota (excluding tuna from mattanza or those that die in the net) to a major Spanish seafood company Riccardo Fuentes e Hijos, which transports them live to Malta where they are fattened and slaughtered, predominantly for a Japanese market. The majority of tuna now leave the island whole, which has profoundly transformed the distribution networks and local taste culture, and mainly the production and trade in tuna organs and canned tuna. In 2012, ICCAT and the European Union further tightened the quotas, which along with competition with industrial fisheries for both quota and markets, has placed enormous pressure on the tonnara. In 2013, it was allocated a quota that was well under what is financially sustainable. Add to the mix the additional expense of financing the obligatory scientific observers, and the tonnara has had to modify its operations. In the last few years there has been a growing antagonism between marine regulations, global markets, and traditional practices. This is exemplified in the limitations to the tuna organ tradition. It is now more common to find dried tuna organs in vacuum packs from Sicily rather than local products. As the restaurateur Secondo Borghero of Tonno della Corsa says “the tonnara made a choice to sell the live tuna to the Spanish. It’s a big problem. The tuna is not just the flesh but also the interior—the stomach, the heart, the eggs—and now we don’t have the quantity of these and the quality around is also not great.” In addition, even though preserved organs are available for consumption, local preserving activities have almost ceased along with supplementary income. The social structures and the types of actors that are a part of the tonnara have also changed. New kinds of relationships, bodies, and knowledge are situated side by side because of the mandate that there be scientific observers present at certain moments in the season. In addition, there are coast guards and, at various stages of the season, university staff contracted by ICCAT take samples and tag the tuna to generate data. The changes have also introduced new types of knowledge, activities, and institutional affiliations based on scientific ideas and discourses of marine biology, conservation, and sustainability. These are applied through marine management activities and regimes like quotas and administered through state and global institutions. This is not to say that the knowledge informing the Rais’s decisions has been done away with but as Gisli Palsson has previously argued, there is a new knowledge hierarchy, which places a significant focus on the notion of expert knowledge. This has the potential to create unequal power dynamics between the marine scientists and the fishers. Today in San Pietro tuna tastes are diverse. Tuna is delicate, smooth, and rich ventresca, raw tartare clean on the palate, novel at the Girotono, hearty tuna al forno, and salty dry bottarga. Tasting tuna in San Pietro offers a material and affective starting point to follow the socio-cultural, political, and ecological contours and contentions that are part of tuna traditions and their transformations. By thinking of gustatory and aesthetic tastes as part of wider taste networks, which involve human and non-human entities, we can begin to unpack and detail better what these changes encompass and figure forms and moments of power and agency. At the centre of tastes and transformation in San Pietro are the tonnara and the mattanza. Although in its long existence the tonnara has endured many changes, those in the past 15 years are unprecedented. Several major global events have provided conditions for change and widened the network from its once mainly local setting to its current global span. First, Japanese and global tastes set a demand for tuna and introduced different tuna production and preparation techniques and new styles of serving tuna raw or lightly cooked tuna. Later, the decline of Bluefin stocks and the increasing involvement of European and international monitoring bodies introduced catch limitations along with new processes and types of knowledge and authorities. Coinciding with this was the development of relationships with middle companies, which again introduced new techniques and technologies, namely the gabbie (cage) and ranches, to the taste network. In the cultural setting of Italy where the conservation of tradition is of particular importance, as I have explained earlier through the notion of provenance, the management of a highly regulated endangered marine species is a complex project that causes much conflict. Because of the dire state of the stocks and continual rise in global demand, solutions are complex. Yet it would seem useful to recognise that tuna tastes are situated within a network of knowledge, know-how, technology, and practices that are not simple modes of production and consumption but also ways of stewarding the sea and its species. Ethics Approval Original names have been used when participants gave consent on the official consent form to being identified in publications relating to the study. This is in accordance with ethics approval granted through the University of Sydney on 21 March 2013. Project number 2012/2825. References Barclay, Kate, and Koh Sun-Hui “Neo-liberal Reforms in Japan’s Tuna Fisheries? A History of Government-business Relations in a Food-producing Sector.” Japan Forum 20.2 (2008): 139–170. Bestor, Theadore “Tsukiji: The Fish Market at the Center of the World.” Foreign Policy 121 (2000): 54–63. Bourdieu, Pierre. Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgment of Taste. Harvard UP, 1984. Callon, Michael “Some Elements of a Sociology of Translation: Domestication of the Scallops and the Fishermen of St Brieuc Bay” Power, Action, Belief: a New Sociology of Knowledge? Ed. John Law. London: Routledge, 1986. 196–223. Emery, Katherine “Tonnare in Italy: Science, History and Culture of Sardinian Tuna Fishing.” Californian Italian Studies 1 (2010): 1–40. Hennion, Antoine “Those Things That Hold Us Together: Taste and Sociology” Cultural Sociology 1 (2007): 97–114. Longo, Stefano “Global Sushi: A Socio-Ecological Analysis of The Sicilian Bluefin Tuna Fishery.” Dissertation. Oregon: University of Oregon, 2009. Morgan, Kevin, Marsden, Terry, and Johathan Murdoch. Worlds of Food: Place, Power, and provenance in the Food Chain. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2006. Palsson, Gisli. Coastal Economies, Cultural Accounts: Human Ecology and Icelandic Discourse. Manchester: Manchester UP, 1991. Probyn, Elspeth “In the Interests of Taste & Place: Economies of Attachment.” The Global Intimate. Eds. G. Pratt and V. Rosner. New York: Columbia UP (2012). Zukin, Sharon “The Social Production of Urban Cultural Heritage: Identity and Ecosystem on an Amsterdam Shopping Street.” City, Culture and Society 3 (2012): 281–291.
APA, Harvard, Vancouver, ISO, and other styles
We offer discounts on all premium plans for authors whose works are included in thematic literature selections. Contact us to get a unique promo code!

To the bibliography