WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine), Ranking Member of the Senate Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries and Coast Guard, today lauded the results of two votes by a working group of the 175th-nation Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in which nations rejected petitions by Monaco and the European Union to list bluefin tuna as an endangered species.
"From the outset I have opposed this misguided policy, and I applaud today's decision to reject proposals to list bluefin tuna under Appendix I of CITES. Approval of this listing would have had crippling effects on the U.S. bluefin tuna fishery, and institutionalized a perverse incentive by effectively punishing countries like the U.S. that attempt to impose responsible domestic fisheries management," said Senator Snowe. "Indeed, today’s decision is the right tonic at the right time. It will allow domestic and international managers to continue to move forward with the vital work of rebuilding drastically overfished stocks without imposing the burden of unnecessary and punitive trade barriers."
Since the announcement earlier this month that the US would support Monaco's proposal to list the bluefin tuna as endangered under Appendix I of CITES, Senator Snowe has called the decision reckless and said it would ultimately prove ineffectual and cause disproportionate harm to the U.S. bluefin tuna fishery. Most recently, Senator Snowe met with Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Tom Strickland, Assistant Secretary for Fish, Wildlife, and Parks, who led the U.S. delegation to CITES, and further reiterated her opposition.