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IT WAS a moment of some drama when delegates assembled in Doha came to vote on a ban in the trade in bluefin tuna on March 18th. The previous evening many representatives of the 175 member nations of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) had been at a reception at the Japanese embassy. Prominent on the menu was bluefin tuna sushi. On the agenda the next day at the CITES meeting was a proposal to list the bluefin tuna as sufficiently endangered that it would qualify for a complete ban in the trade of the species (The Economist supports such a ban).
3月18日，代表们齐聚多哈投票表决是否通过一项针对买卖蓝鳍金枪鱼的禁令，这是颇有戏剧性的一刻。头一天晚上，濒危野生动植物物种国际贸易公约(CITES)175个缔约国的许多代表在日本大使馆参加了一个招待会。菜单上，蓝鳍金枪鱼寿司赫然在列。而CITES大会次日的议程中却包含了一项提案，该提案建议，鉴于蓝鳍金枪鱼已经足够濒危，应该完全禁止该物种的买卖(本刊支持这样一项禁令)。
The complex proposal called for further discussion of the bluefin tuna’s plight. Europe, the United States, Monaco and Norway were hoping to move to an adjournment, which would have allowed a proper investigation of the issues over the weekend. Kevern Cochrane, the representative from the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), agreed. He also acknowledged that the official FAO panel had decided that the species met the scientific criteria for listing as a sufficiently endangered species qualifying for a trade ban--the bluefin tuna population has dropped below 15% of its maximum historical level.
这项复杂的提案呼吁进一步讨论蓝鳍金枪鱼面临的困境。欧洲、美国、摩纳哥和挪威都希望大会休会，从而能够利用周末对上述问题作出妥善的调研。来自联合国粮农组织的代表Kevern Cochrane表示同意。他还承认粮农组织官方的专门调查小组已经认定，鉴于其种群数量已经降至历史最高水平的15%以下，蓝鳍金枪鱼达到了被列入禁止买卖的濒危物种名录的科学标准。
At this stage, eyewitnesses report that the Libyan delegation made an unusual intervention. According to David Allison of OCEANA, a marine charity, the Libyan delegate started “screaming and calling everyone liars…He said the science was no good and that it was part of a conspiracy of developed countries. It was theatre. Then he stopped screaming and called for an immediate vote”. Another witness, Sergi Tudela, a fisheries expert with the WWF, agreed. “The Libyan representative accused the FAO of serving political interests and said there was no scientific basis for the listing.”
当时在场的与会者们事后透露，就在这个节骨眼上，利比亚代表团作出了不寻常的干预。来自OCEANA这家海洋慈善组织的David Allison说利比亚代表开始“尖叫并指责大家都是骗子……他说科学没有用，不过是发达国家阴谋的一部分而已。一切就像是演戏。接着他停止了尖叫并要求立即投票。”另一位目击者，来自世界自然基金会的渔业专家Sergi Tudela同意上述说法。他说：“利比亚代表指责联合国粮农组织为政治利益服务，并声称把蓝鳍金枪鱼列入禁止买卖的名单缺乏科学依据。”
After this the talking stopped. The call for a ban, proposed by Monaco, was put to an immediate vote using a procedural ploy and rejected with 68 votes against, 20 in favour and 30 abstentions. The Americans, in particular, are disappointed. A number of agencies had been working hard to prepare for the meeting, none more so than the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The NOAA responded to the vote by committing to ensure that the organisation which currently manages bluefin tuna (albeit woefully) would implement fully its commitments and would continue to try to reduce fishing levels in line with scientific advice. The Japanese, however, will be delighted. The country has been lobbying hard against the ban for some time.
随后讨论就停止了。摩纳哥提出的禁止买卖蓝鳍金枪鱼的呼吁立即被通过程序上的手段付诸表决，并最终以68票反对，20票赞成，30票弃权而未能获得通过。美国人对此尤其失望。该国一些机构一直努力工作就是为这次大会做好准备，最突出的例子是美国国家海洋和大气管理局(NOAA)。作为对此次表决的回应，该机构将致力于确保目前管理蓝鳍金枪鱼的机构(尽管其表现不佳)全面落实各项承诺并继续设法按照科学建议缩小捕捞规模。而日本人将对表决结果感到高兴。该国一段时间以来都为反对禁令而竭力游说各方。
The outlook for the bluefin tuna is not good. Scientists already agree that the population is crashing, and that quotas allocated to fishermen remain too generous to give any reasonable degree of certainty of a recovery. The extent to which illegal fishing can be brought under control will also have a big impact on whether the population has a chance of recovering. It is technically possible that bluefin tuna could be put back on the agenda before the meeting closes on March 25th, but this it is unlikely to happen. It seems likely that a fresh attempt to list bluefin tuna will have to wait until the next CITES meeting in three years time.
蓝鳍金枪鱼的前景不容乐观。科学家们已经达成共识，认为其数量正急剧减少，而分配给渔民的捕捞配额仍然过高，以至于无法合理地确保其种群数量的恢复。非法捕捞能在多大程度上得到控制也会对种群数量是否有机会恢复具有重大影响。虽然大会于本月25日闭幕前，技术上来说还有可能把蓝鳍金枪鱼重新放回议程中来，但是这种可能性微乎其微。看来把该物种列入禁止买卖名录的新一轮努力可能要等到三年后的下一届CITES大会上了。
That may be too late for the bluefin tuna. Libya has used a procedural ruse to force a vote without any substantial discussion of the scientific, technical or economic issues. It has sidestepped the only public forum that exists to discuss whether action is needed to save a species that is being fished, traded and eaten to extinction. Had the discussion taken place before a vote to reject the trade ban, this would at least have counted as an honourable victory.
对于蓝鳍金枪鱼来说这或许太晚了。利比亚耍了一个程序上的花招，在没有对科学、技术、和经济问题展开任何实质性讨论的情况下强行将提案付诸表决。唯一一个现有的讨论是否需要采取行动拯救一个正在被捕捞、买卖、和餐桌消费到灭绝的物种的公共论坛就此被该国撇在一边。要是投票否决买卖禁令之前能够有一场讨论，那么这至少本可以算作一次光荣的胜利。
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