Dead in the Water? A Comparative Analysis of the Battle Between Consuming and Conserving Two of the World’s Most Iconic Seafood Species - Atlantic Bluefin Tuna and Sharks Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy Thesis Submitted by Sara Blankenship 22 April 2012 © 2012 Sara Blankenship http://fletcher.tufts.edu Table of Contents Introduction...................................................................................................................3 I. Background - Atlantic Bluefin Tuna .........................................................................3 A. Domestic Bluefin Fisheries Management in the United States..........................................................4 i. Fisheries Agencies ...................................................................................................................................4 ii. Magnuson-Stevens Act..........................................................................................................................5 a. 1976 Magnuson-Stevens Act.................................................................................................................5 b. 1996 Sustainable Fisheries Act and the 2006 Amendments............................................................6 iii. Highly Migratory Species ....................................................................................................................6 iv. Atlantic Tunas Convention Act ..........................................................................................................7 B. International Bluefin Fisheries Management ........................................................................................7 i. History of International Fisheries Management.................................................................................7 ii. Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs) ..............................................................8 iii. International Convention for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT)..............................8 II. Background - Sharks ................................................................................................9 A. The History of Shark Finning ...............................................................................................................10 i. The Practice of Shark Finning.............................................................................................................10 B. Shark Consumption.................................................................................................................................11 i. Shark Meat..............................................................................................................................................11 ii. Medicinal Shark Products....................................................................................................................11 iii. Shark Fin Soup....................................................................................................................................11 C. Shark Management in the United States..............................................................................................12 i. 1993 Atlantic Shark Fishery Management Plan ................................................................................12 ii. 1999 Atlantic Shark Fishery Management Plan ...............................................................................13 iii. 2000 Shark Finning Conservation Act.............................................................................................13 iv. The Shark Conservation Act of 2010...............................................................................................13 D. International Shark Management .........................................................................................................13 i. RFMO Shark Provisions ......................................................................................................................14 ii. Technology Focused Agreements......................................................................................................14 a. U.N.G.A. 46/215..................................................................................................................................14 ii. Conservation Focused Agreements...................................................................................................15 a. IPOA-Sharks .........................................................................................................................................15 III. Atlantic Bluefin Tuna Versus Sharks – Similarities and Differences ................... 15 A. SIMILARITIES.......................................................................................................................................16 i. Ecological................................................................................................................................................16 ii. Economic...............................................................................................................................................16 B. DIFFERENCES .....................................................................................................................................16 i. The Product............................................................................................................................................16 a. Part Versus Whole................................................................................................................................16 b. Catch and Handling Method ..............................................................................................................17 c. Perceived Food Value ..........................................................................................................................18 d. Product Substitutability .......................................................................................................................19 ii. Social.......................................................................................................................................................20 a. Charismatic Megafauna........................................................................................................................21 iii. Institutional...........................................................................................................................................22 a. Conservation Management Plans.......................................................................................................22 1 b. Atlantic Bluefin Tuna Conservation Management Plans...............................................................22 c. Shark Conservation Management Plans............................................................................................23 1. A Ban on Shark Finning......................................................................................................................23 2. A Ban on Shark Frade..........................................................................................................................24 3. The Creation of Shark Sanctuaries ....................................................................................................29 IV. International Fisheries and Wildlife Treaties and Regimes ................................. 30 A. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)..........................................................................................................................................................31 i. Background - COP15............................................................................................................................32 ii. The History of the Atlantic Bluefin Tuna Proposal at COP15.....................................................32 a. Proposal 19 ............................................................................................................................................32 b. Decision on Proposal 19.....................................................................................................................33 ii. The History of Shark Proposals at COP15 ......................................................................................33 a. Proposal 15 ............................................................................................................................................34 b. Proposal 16............................................................................................................................................34 c. COP15’s Decision on Proposals 15 and 16......................................................................................34 iii. Fished to Death?..................................................................................................................................35 V. The Future of Bluefin Tuna and Shark Conservation ............................................ 35 A. The Future of Domestic Legislation in the United States ................................................................35 i. Bluefin Tuna...........................................................................................................................................35 a. Listing Bluefin in the Endangered Species Act................................................................................36 ii. Sharks .....................................................................................................................................................37