Bluefin tuna have a lot of admirers. Marine biologists are intrigued by their size and speed, they're a noteworthy source of revenue for many fishermen, and many sushi lovers are willing to spend a little more for their favorite tuna roll. In fact, this fish is so important to so many, that it warrants a five-day meeting of the world's five biggest tuna fisheries -- accounting for 77 countries and regions.
The meeting is taking place in Japan, the country that consumes more than half the world's bluefin tuna catch. But Japan isn't solely to blame (no pun intended) for the declining populations.
Closer to home, in the Gulf of Mexico, bluefin tuna are being caught as bycatch primarily on longlining boats that are legally fishing for yellowfin tuna. This area is the only place in the western Atlantic Ocean where bluefins spawn, making it of the utmost importance for ensuring healthy populations. Oceana and other NGO's are working to get the area closed to longliners during the spawning season. Blue Ocean Institute has gone so far as to file a lawsuit to that effect, which Oceana heartily endorses.
Excessive consumption coupled with wasted catch are driving bluefin and other tuna populations to the brink of irreversible collapse. Conservationists hope that this week's meeting will result in better management of worldwide tuna stocks. Stay tuned.
Comments
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Biodiversivist Posted 5:06 am
25 Jan 2007
In the end, it all comes down to biodiversity. Poison Darts--Protecting the biodiversity of our world
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Sam Wells Posted 5:37 am
25 Jan 2007
It could be that some foreign factory ships are out there, which would not reported if any Bluefin was caught, but my understanding of the US commercial fishery is that most all Bluefin are caught between the Bahamas and Mova Scotia.
To my knowledge, Yellowfin and Black Tuna populations seem fine, and are not regulated in the Gulf or Atlantic. Please be careful with how you say what you say.
Onward through the fog
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caniscandida Posted 3:59 pm
25 Jan 2007
Also, the middle, "yellow," column, is now more welcomingly designated something like "Good Alternatives," when not so long ago it used to be called "Proceed With Caution."
We definitely need some transparency, if the Monterey Bay Aquarium is to retain its credibility.
E.g.: why in the world are long lines ever acceptable?
Also, how come in 2003 swordfish was always a fish not to be avoided, but now "US swordfish," whatever that is, is listed under the yellow light?
All large tuna are remarkable fish, and it is astounding that it is still acceptable for them to be caught and sold. Really, they should be in the same status as ivory-bearing elephants. They are the largest actinopterygians -- i.e. the largest bony fish, as distinct, evolutionarily, from the largest chondrichthyans, i.e. the whale sharks, as elephants are from ostriches -- and therefore should be everywhere protected.
Chickens are our cousins!
So are other sensitive animals!
Enough is enough!
No more factory farms!
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Andrew Sharpless Posted 4:48 am
26 Jan 2007
As for Sam's comments, there is no doubt that longliners catch and kill bluefin. Log books filled out by longline fishing vessels over a recent three-year period show that from January through June, tuna longline vessels in the Gulf caught and kept about 280 bluefin. The vessels discarded about 430 more - and many of these discards surely died. Tagging studies show that bluefin in the Gulf of Mexico range in the water column from the surface to dives as deep as 1,000 meters, but generally stay in the upper 300 meters. While a longline set for swordfish will indeed be shallow, a longline set for tuna ranges as deep as 300 to 1,200 feet.
Andrew Sharpless
CEO
Oceana
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