Paul Watson Speaks To Treehugger On Endangered Marine Species
Written by Vegetarian Star on May 6th, 2010 in Animal Issues.
Captain Paul Watson of the Sea Shepherd crew is about to embark on a mission to campaign to protect bluefin tuna.
This year for the first time, the International Convention for Trade in Endangered Species did not list any marine species on its list, something Watson feels has more to do with politics than science.
“That was under pressure from Japan and China,” Watson told Treehugger. “That’s never happened before. So five species of sharks, two species of coral, the polar bear and bluefin tuna were not listed when they should’ve been listed.”
Watson said bluefin are so endangered, they will probably be extinct in less than half a decade unless action is taken and that some fish not on the list are actually fewer in numbers than some mammals.
He added there are more bengal tigers than great white sharks, for example, but great white sharks are not listed as endangered. Still, other species, like the porbeagle shark, have been taken off the list.
“It’s a very serious situation, because this is the Planet Ocean not the Planet Earth. The problem is, the destruction of biodiversity in our world’s oceans, the diminishment of life in the oceans, means that if the oceans die then we die. I don’t think people get that message.”
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