IT HAS been a mixed week for fish. The 169 signatories of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) met in the Dutch city of the Hague and banned nearly all trade in sawfish, whose toothy snout is all too popular with collectors.
CITES also said European eel exports must be controlled. But the controls will have to wait 18 months for a management plan to take effect 鈥� European Union ministers approved it separately this week. Eel numbers have plummeted, partly because of overfishing of baby eels, which are shipped to Chinese eel farms for fattening then sold to Japan. The new CITES law aims to keep 60 per cent of the babies caught to restock European rivers, but that number will fall if Asian eel prices rise, which is likely as European exports fall.
鈥淐ITES banned trade in sawfish, whose toothy snout is all too popular with collectors鈥�
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Still, eels got a better deal than sharks: CITES initially refused to restrict trade in the porbeagle and spiny dogfish, although Europe is pushing for another vote.
Mammals fared slightly better. CITES banned trade in Asia鈥檚 slow loris, a sought-after pet in Japan, and defeated a US bid to remove restrictions on bobcat pelts. It also knocked back Japanese efforts to engineer support for dolphin and whale hunts. But as New 杏吧原创 went to press it was not yet clear if CITES would allow a one-off sale of confiscated African ivory, which might help fund elephant conservation, but which some fear will encourage poaching.
