A controversial proposal to ban the export of Atlantic bluefin tuna, a popular ingredient in sushi, has been rejected. The U.S.-backed proposal had prompted opposition from both sides of the political aisle in Maine, including Sen. Olympia Snowe, a Republican, and 1st District Rep. Chellie Pingree, a Democrat.
Monaco proposed the ban because stocks of the migratory fish have fallen an estimated 80 percent as the appetite for high-end sushi has increased. But a United Nations working group known as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species -- or CITES -- today rejected the proposal.
Snowe is applauding the decision, calling the proposed ban "misguided."
"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," she says in a statement.
The ban would have prevented tuna fishermen in Maine from tapping into the lucrative market in Japan, which imports most of the bluefin tuna caught around the world. Pingree had maintained that Maine fishermen are already complying with quotas on the fish, and approval of the ban would have put them at a competitive disadvantage.
The proposal had the backing of conservationists who warn that the fish is in danger of disappearing.
Last year in Maine, 170 commercial bluefin tuna fishing permits were issued.