In November 2009, ICCAT's scientific advisors announced that a total ban on international trade in Atlantic bluefin tuna was justified, based on the decline in the bluefin fishery population to less than 15% of its original size. However, later in the same month, ICCAT recommended catch quotas of 13,500 tonnes per year. This was met by sharp criticisms from environmental organisations, and prompted calls for alternative methods to regulate Atlantic bluefin fisheries, such as protection under CITES. Susan Lieberman, Director of International Policy for the Pew Environment Group said Since its inception, the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas has been driven by short-term commercial fishing interests, not the conservation ethic implied by its name...ICCAT's actions and inactions highlight the need to take these issues to CITES—the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. The ICCAT fisheries managers have shown scant interest in the long-term preservation of the key resources they are supposed to manage. It is now time to turn to other bodies to seek the needed protections that ICCAT has failed to provide.