True ambition must be realistic

Date: Fri, 19 Feb 2010 19:20:08 +0900
I hear a controversy between "ambitious" and "realistic" about 2020 target. I usually say, true ambition must be realistic, and it seeks to realize a target that has looked impossible.
In Japan, the majority of JBO (Japan Biodiversity Outlook) Committee members (except only me) say that the 2010 target was not achieved even in Japan (Japanese biodiversity loss is still accelerating). And Japan Gov't proposes to halt biodiversity loss in the world until 2020. I think this is unrealistic.

Strange stock assessment of Atlantic Bluefin Tuna

Date: Thu, 18 Feb 2010 00:03:22 +0900
I heard the FAO Ad Hoc Meeting for CITES issues. The eastern stock of Atlantic Bluefin tuna was 1-12 million tons before commercial fisheries era (WW II, B0), and it was estimated to be 0.3 million tons in 1970 (B1970).
The cumulative catch of the eastern stock from 1950-1970 is 0.5 million tons. If these are true, the reduction of stock abundance is much larger than the cumulative
catch. Or, the reduction rate from B0 to the present abundance (used for CITES criterion for Appendix I) is artificial.