And this is a regime that operates under a pretty stringent precautionary principle provision, at least in theory J wil
Dr. Wil Burns, Editor in Chief Journal of International Wildlife Law & Policy 1702 Arlington Blvd. El Cerrito, CA 94530 USA Ph: 650.281.9126 Fax: 708.776.8369 [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.jiwlp.com <http://www.jiwlp.com/> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Ronald Mitchell Sent: Wednesday, December 19, 2007 9:44 PM To: GEPED Subject: a reminder about the influence of science on policy Just to disabuse any of those who might think that climate change is the only environmental arena in which there is a political and policy disregard for science. Ron North Sea Cod Quotas Raised Against Scientific Advice from New Scientist Fisheries ministers of the 27 countries of the European Union had their traditional all-night pre-Christmas bargaining session on Tuesday night to assign catch quotas for the region's beleaguered fisheries. And in a continuation of another tradition, they ignored scientists' advice and increased the catch of North Sea cod that will be allowed in 2008 by 11 percent. North Sea cod has been under such stress that independent scientists have asked the ministers repeatedly for a ban on fishing it. The ministers have not increased catches in recent years, but have also not stopped them. Last year there was a slight upturn in the number of baby cod surviving to adulthood - a number that varies widely year by year, mainly depending upon the environmental conditions. This is the reason ministers gave for increasing permitted catches. To read more: http://environment.newscientist.com/article/dn13105-north-sea- cod-quotas-raised-against-scientific-advice.html Or: http://snipurl.com/1vjdi
