The United States is threatening to retaliate against nations if they violate international swordfish catch quotas. But fisheries experts say the saber rattling won't help stocks--which have declined by 70% since the 1960s--unless quotas are reduced to reflect current science.
At a fisheries summit in Spain last week, U.S. officials warned the 21 other signers of a swordfish and tuna treaty that they may impose trade sanctions against nations that violate the limits, which were set in 1996 and cut the yearly kill in half. But conservationists are pushing the nations to close a loophole that allows undersized swordfish to be discarded and not counted in the catch. "Compliance with insufficient regulations is not going to solve the problem," says Lisa Speer of the Natural Resources Defense Council. Whether the treaty signers buy that argument won't be known until later this year.
