When it comes to decimating fish stocks
, Canada is an expert, and apparently we're now sharing that expertise internationally. Embarrassingly, Canada was one of the countries opposed to an export ban on Atlantic bluefin tuna, this past weekend at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in Doha - despite the fact that bluefin are expected to disappear in 2-5 years. Apparently it makes more sense to fish a declining stock to extinction than to potentially save the species and the long term fishing economies that depend on it.
Monaco, a country that has a long history of consuming bluefin, has argued that extreme measures are necessary to save the bluefin because, "...stocks have fallen by 75 percent and current managing agencies have done nothing to rebuild the stocks."
Instead of taking action and building consensus to protect the environment, Canada's narrow and selfish style of thinking is contributing in countless ways to the tragedy of the commons.