by TCRN Staff
Costa Rica will lead its support this month in Qatar, Middle East, where the initiative to help stem overfishing of Bluefin tuna.
This was confirmed this week by Jorge Rodriguez, Minister of Environment, Energy and Telecommunications (Minaet) and Joaquín Calvo, local coordinator of the Convention on International Trade in Species (CITES).
According to Rodriguez and Calvo, from the annual meeting of CITES will be held this month from the 12th to the 15th and Costa Rica will vote for the Atlantic bluefin tuna to be introduced into Appendix I of this convention.
This action, proposed by U.S. experts and Palau, could set a precedent for the protection of commercially important marine species at risk.
Appendix I is a section that lists natural species which have suffered a great reduction of their population and also suggests practical measures to improve the health of this population, in this case, with an area closed to international fishing.