The IUCN Red List has just been updated and published during the IUCN Congress which takes place in Marseille. If certain situations worsen, the establishment of quotas allows the conservation of emblematic species of world fishing.
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After this update, the red list ofUICN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) lists 138,374 species of which 38,543, or almost 28%, are threatened with extinction. Among the latest reassessments of species placed on this list are those of seven most fished tuna species for trade.
This commercial fishery greatly weakened the natural populations because it took place on a massive scale and was little or not regulated by international laws. The practice of fishing illegality has also fueled this trend. However, the establishment of fishing quotas and the strengthening of the means to fight against illegal fishing (control of fishing boats, analyzes ADN on the stalls) have visibly helped to stem the pression growing on tuna stocks.
The IUCN Red List indicates that albacore and yellowfin tunas have changed from “Near Threatened” to “Least Concern” and that the Red tuna South, previously listed as Critically Endangered, is now Endangered. The resilience the most spectacular nonetheless concerns Atlantic bluefin tuna, which was considered to be “Endangered” and now has a status of “Least Concern”.
According to Dr. Collette, President of the SSC-IUCN Tuna and Swordfish Specialist Group, however, it should be borne in mind that tuna are migratory animals (over several thousand kilometers) and that their protection, to be effective, must result from collaborations on a global scale. On a more local scale, some tuna populations are therefore not positively affected by fishing quotas. This is particularly the case with the small population of Atlantic bluefin tuna, which lives in the western Atlantic but breeds in Mexico, whose numbers have more than halved over the past 40 years.
A finding that remains alarming
Among these threatened species, 31% are endangered because of the destruction of their habitat and 10% are because of climate change
Despite these examples of resilience, the updated IUCN Red List shows that efforts still need to be made to conserve many groups of species and species. It is notably the case of elasmobranchs (sharks and rays), among which 37% of species are now threatened with extinction, mainly due to a lack of effective management measures for their protection. However, it should be added that among these threatened species, 31% are endangered because of the destruction of their habitat and 10% are because of climatic changes.
On terre, the Komodo dragon is also the subject of concern. This species is indeed endemic from Indonesia and is only found in Komodo National Park and Flores Island. However, rising sea levels due to climate change are expected to reduce the habitat of this coastal species by at least 30% over the next 45 years.
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