More bad news for sushi lovers, and more importantly, an entire species of fish. The World Wildlife Fund has released a disturbing report saying that unless current fishing practices are changed, tunas will be wiped out by 2012:
‘Bluefin tuna is collapsing as we speak and yet the fishery will kick off for business as usual,’ said Sergi Tudela, of World Wildlife Fund. ‘It is absurd and inexcusable to open a fishing season when stocks of the target species are collapsing.’
If the current quotas are allowed to be met, the breeding population of Atlantic bluefin tuna will have disappeared in 36 months. Demand from Japan, and other sushi loving nations, has seen the tuna fishing fleet steadily increase over the past ten years. In November, European Union members were among those who signed an agreement setting bluefin quotas. According to a number of environmental experts, the quotas were 47 per cent higher than recommended and were described as a complete disgrace.
The tuna population can only be salvaged by a total ceasing of fishing for them in May and June, when the fish swim to the Mediterranean to spawn, the World Wildlife Fund says. The call comes as the two month tuna fishing season begins.
July 1st, 2009 at 4:53 am
Tuna is an important commercial fish and it has high protein.Good for health…thanks to share with nice blog.
July 19th, 2009 at 3:59 pm
I have been doing research on this topic, and I find it disgusting that the quotas are being pushed aside, and fishing is continuing as if there is an unlimited supply, we should be ashamed of ourselves.
August 28th, 2009 at 9:41 pm
With all the technology of today, how can an entire species go extinct? Can we not create fish farms for these beautiful fish? How come we can create fish farms for catfish and trout, but not the bluefin tuna. That is totally ridiculous that we can creat catthis and trout farms, but not a bluefin tuna farm. A bluefin tuna can feed an entire village.
March 28th, 2010 at 7:47 pm
Thanks for this super blog.
April 22nd, 2010 at 6:06 am
Fish farms use smaller fish to feed the big fish. For ever 5 pounds of sardines for example you get 1 pound of tuna. All of this is unsustainable in the long run. Watch the documentary “End of the Line”.
September 15th, 2010 at 8:39 pm
I understand that it is very difficult to farm bluefin – they need way too much space. These fish migrate thousands of miles and are incredibly muscular warm blooded creaturs. We should stick to farming fish like atlantic salmon and tilapia.
-D
October 11th, 2010 at 3:52 pm
I know, right? Still, can’t we try farming other types of tuna and use that as an alternative to bluefin?
November 13th, 2010 at 7:10 am
i guess it’s like everything else,we won’t be happy untill we wipe out everything thats worth anything.over population an greed!!!when will the government step in an put a stop to it?there to busy worrying about steroids..&,sports!!i think its to the point were only GOD could help,lets hope there is one..
November 17th, 2010 at 5:03 pm
To say we should “stick to farming fish like Atlantic Salmon” shows ignorance. Fishfarms are devastating wild fish stocks, particularly sea trout stocks. This is due to diseases spread from caged fish, to wild fish in open water. I believe in New Zealand they have been fish farming in freshwater so that chemicals etc can be strained off before the run-off water enters the ocean.
Deep trawling and catching quotas are other examples of human stupidity accelerating the decline of the planet.
It comes back to the main point of supply and demand: as long as free-trade capitalism runs riot, such things will continue to happen as all other concerns are secondary to the aims of increased economic activity and profiteering, based on exploitation of natural resources at the end of the day.
November 18th, 2010 at 10:21 am
Yellowfin and Albacore are the main alternatives to bluefin tuna. In fact, most people in the US have probably never eaten bluefin. The problem is that the Japanese have made a status symbol out of it. A large bluefin can sell for $400,000 in Japan. With that kind of money on the table, it is impossible to stop people from fishing for them.
December 6th, 2010 at 8:34 pm
Since bluefin tuna fisheries seem dead set on committing suicide (while committing genocide), I say let them do it. They cannot capture or destroy ALL individuals, few human endeavors are so efficient (yes, I know, “don’t forget the passenger pigeon!”). But the *commercial* extinction of the species will put an end to the industry. That fact will do far more good for the species than any watered-down, 11th hour, unenforceable regulations could do. Yes, this means risking the actual extinction of the bluefin as populations decline to dangerously low levels that may no longer be self-sustaining. But I suspect nature will have the last laugh.
February 7th, 2011 at 3:57 pm
I really love….sushi! but i need to quit cuz i red this paste. How poor for Tuna.
April 20th, 2011 at 10:03 am
Why don’t we just put a law that you can’t fish during the Spawn. Because the problem is that they catch TONS at a time in a big net during the breeding season. We have to be smarter than this and actually enforce the law. Japan doesn’t have any say in the Mediterranean. We need to work with lawmaker’s and make it happen.
May 6th, 2011 at 3:29 am
They seem to have forgotten wiping out the Northern Cod in the 80s to the 1992 Northern Cod moratorium. 92% gone in 10 years. The cost was the death of a species, a 700 million dollar/year economy, 30 000+ jobs, a lost culture in Newfoundland/Nova Scotia, 380 million dollars to bail the people out, then another 2.9 billion all at the expense of the taxpayer. The fishery is still closed off the Canadian coast. Utterly moronic. Policymakers should come under review for policy reasoning based on science. For example, explain how the new quota policy does not put our food source at risk in ecological terms. Scientists provide their feedback actively and grade the policy decisions.