RED GOLD This page intentionally left blank R ED G OLD THE MANAGED EXTINCTION of the GIANT BLUEFIN TUNA JENNIFER E. TELESCA UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA PRESS MINNEAPOLIS LONDON The University of Minnesota Press gratefully acknowledges support for the publication of this book from Furthermore: a program of the J. M. Kaplan Fund. The University of Minnesota Press gratefully acknowledges the financial support provided for the publication of this book by the Offices of the Dean and Provost at the Pratt Institute. An earlier version of chapter 5 was originally published as “Consensus for Whom? Gaming the Market for Atlantic Bluefin Tuna through the Empire of Bureaucracy,” Cambridge Journal of Anthropology 33, no. 1 (spring 2015): 49–6 4. Copyright 2020 by the Regents of the University of Minnesota All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Published by the University of Minnesota Press 111 Third Avenue South, Suite 290 Minneapolis, MN 55401-2 520 http://www.upress.umn.edu ISBN 978-1-5179-0850-8 (hc) ISBN 978-1-5179-0851-5 (pb) A Cataloging-in-Publication record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. Printed in the United States of America on acid-f ree paper The University of Minnesota is an equal-o pportunity educator and employer. 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 To Mom and Pops, with love from the sea This page intentionally left blank Contents Abbreviations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix Prologue. The Life and Death of Bluefin Tuna: Homage to an Ocean Giant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii Introduction. The Very Elder Gods Become Red Gold: Value on the High Seas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 1. A History of the Bluefin Tuna Trade: The Emergence of Commodity Empires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 2. A “Stock” Splits: Profiteering through International Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 3. Saving the Glamour Fish: The Limits of Environmental Activism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 4. Alibis for Extermination: The Manipulation of Fisheries Science . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139 5. The Libyan Caper: A Rogue Player Wins the Game . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175 Conclusion. All Hands on Deck: Confronting the Sixth Extinction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209 Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227 Appendix A. Contracting Parties to the ICCAT Convention, 1967– 2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235 Appendix B. Allocations in Export Quotas for Atlantic Bluefin Tuna . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237 Appendix C. An Organizational Chart of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas through 2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241 Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243 Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295 Abbreviations AAA American Anthropological Association AAUW American Association of University Women ABC Audit Bureau of Circulations AES American Ethnological Society AESS Association for Environmental Studies and Sciences BBNJ [Marine] Biological Diversity [of Areas] Beyond National Jurisdiction (UNCLOS) BCD bluefin catch document BCE before the Common Era CCSBT Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna CE of the Common Era CITES Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora COP Conference of Plenipotentiaries CPC Contracting Party to the Convention DPCIA Dolphin Protection Consumer Information Act (United States) e- BCD electronic bluefin catch document EC European Community EEZ exclusive economic zone EU European Union EUROPOL European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation FAO Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations GATT General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade ix