Trade interests have triumphed over conservation at a United Nations wildlife conference, where proposals to increase protection for polar bears, bluefin tuna, coral and sharks all fell flat.

 

Many delegates say economic interests are being seen as more important than long-term conservation.

Short-term economic concerns hampered efforts to restrict trade in several lucrative marine species at the Doha Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.

The two-week-long 175-nation convention saw resistance from Asian countries, particularly Japan, to a ban on the trade in Atlantic bluefin tuna. The fish is prized as sushi but stocks have plunged more than 80 percent since 1970.

Japan imports about 80 percent of the catch, mostly from the European Union. Delegates rejected the proposed ban after Tokyo argued that lax regulation of catches is the main problem.

Steven Broad, Exec. Director of Wildlife Trade Minitoring Network, said, "I think what we are hearing from Japan and a number of other Asian countries is not so much saying that over-fishing is okay, but they don't agree that this conference, this convention, is the right place to deal with it and they are arguing that there are other places to deal with it."

Delegates on the final day even overturned a decision to increase trade restrictions on Porbeagle sharks, endangered by over-fishing in the Atlantic and Mediterranean.

But seven other types of sharks are also unlucky, including hammerheads caught as ingredients for shark fin soup in Asia, which failed earlier to win protection.

There were some successes. Kenya won its proposal to combat the escalation of rhino poaching by placing the animals on a protective list.

Zambian and Tanzanian calls to relax a trade ban on elephant ivory were also rejected. But a US proposal to protect polar bears, which put the issue of climate change onto the conference agenda for the first time, was defeated.