Overfishing causes Pacific bluefin tuna numbers to drop 96%
Large open water fish, like this Northern bluefin tuna, are oily fish. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Crash! Conservationists also warned that the vast majority caught were juveniles and had never reproduced . The Guardian reports
The bluefin tuna, which has been endangered for several years and has the misfortune to be prized by Japanese sushi lovers, has suffered a catastrophic decline in stocks in the Northern Pacific Ocean, of more than 96%, according to research published on Wednesday.
Equally concerning is the fact that about 90% of specimens currently fished are young fish that have not yet reproduced.
Last week, one fish sold in Japan for more than £1m, reflecting the rarity of the bluefin tuna and the continued demand for its fatty flesh, which is sold for high prices across Asia and in some high-end western restaurants.
Bluefin tuna is one of nature’s most successful ocean inhabitants, the biggest of the tuna and a top-of-the-food-chain fish with few natural predators. But the advent of industrial fishing methods and a taste for the species among rich sushi devotees have led to its being hunted to the brink of extinction.
If current trends continue, the species will soon be functionally extinct in the Pacific, and the frozen bodies held in a few high-security Asian warehouses will be the last gasp the species.
More than nine out of 10 of the species recently caught were too young to have reproduced, meaning they may have been the last generation of the bluefin tuna.
Amanda Nickson, of the Pew Environment Group, which produced the latest report, said: “There is no logical way a fishery can have such a high level of fishing on juveniles and continue.”
She said that urgent measures needed to be taken in order to preserve stocks and allow them to recover. “The population of Pacific bluefin is a small fraction of what it used to be and is in danger of all but disappearing,” she said. “It’s a highly valuable natural commodity and people naturally want to fish something that gives them such a high return.”
She called for fishing of the species to be halted as a matter of urgency. Although there are measures to manage the exploitation of bluefin tuna in the Atlantic, and some measures in the eastern Pacific, the main spawning ground for Pacific bluefin tuna in the western part of that ocean is not managed. The main fishing fleets exploiting the stocks are from Japan, Mexico, South Korea and the US, and the high value of the few remaining fish is a further encouragement to fishermen to hunt down the last of the species. A single specimen could make the catchers rich for life, and without catch limits and rigorous enforcement, there is nothing to stop fishermen pursuing them.
Nickson said: “This assessment shows just how bad the situation really is for this top predator. This highly valuable fish is being exploited at almost every stage of its life cycle. Fishing continues on the spawning grounds of this heavily overfished tuna species.”
About two-thirds of the world’s tuna comes from the Pacific, but bluefin tuna accounts for only about 1% of this. For years, the species was neglected in fisheries management, being lumped in with other more prolific species. But in recent years it has become clear that it was in danger, from overfishing and its own biology – being bigger than other tuna, it takes longer to come to sexual maturity, which scientists estimate takes between four and eight years, which limits its reproductive ability and makes it more vulnerable to the predations of modern industrialised fishing techniques.
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- Bluefin tuna sells for record $1.76 million in Japan; sushi anyone? (grindtv.com)
- Tuna Numbers Reduced By Over 96 Percent (news.discovery.com)
- Overfishing Causes Pacific Bluefin Tuna Numbers to Drop 96% (ecowatch.org)
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- Bluefin tuna sells for record S$2.14m in Tokyo (todayonline.com)
Bad news for sustainability – Tuna fishing ban in Pacific partially lifted
Yellowfin tuna are being fished as a replacement for the now largely depleted Southern bluefin tuna. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
When will we ever learn? Just when we are making progress to make a fish sustainable…
Pacific nations have reopened the Pacific high seas to commercial tuna fishing after a two-year ban imposed to preserve declining big eye tuna stocks. Comments here or at Learn From Nature
In a meeting in Guam last week, member countries of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) lifted the fishing ban on pockets 1 and 2 of the Pacific Ocean.
The WCPFC is a 25-member organisation including Australia, the EU, Japan, Papua New Guinea, and the Philippines that oversees and regulates migratory fish stocks such as tuna and marlin in the Pacific. Its jurisdiction covers 20% of the planet’s surface.
In January 2010, the WCPFC placed the ban on parts of the Pacific Ocean, where 60% of the world’s tuna are sourced, to conserve the population of the bigeye tuna, which scientists classified as overfished. Other tuna species like skipjack, yellowfin, and albacore also found in the Pacific high seas but their numbers have not reached an alarming low.
Although it lifted the ban, the commission maintained that entry to the marine reserves would be limited, refusing proposals from the European Community and South Korea for a free-for-all access to one of the world’s richest fishing grounds.
“The Pacific Commons is now open. But for all practical purposes, access will be limited,” said Mark Dia of Greenpeace. “They knew that everybody would suffer if a free-for-all access is granted,” he added.
The permitted areas for tuna fishing in the Pacific Ocean
The WCPFC approved the request of the Philippine government, the third top tuna harvester in the Pacific after Japan and South Korea, to fish in pocket 1 of the Pacific, which is bounded by the island nations of Micronesia, Palau, Papua New Guinea, and Indonesia.
In exchange for fishing access, the Philippine government must report its catch and limit the number of fishing vessels to 36, Dia said. Filipino vessels must also apply for international fishing permits before entering pocket 1.
The Philippines’ fisheries director Asis Perez said the ban brought hard times to the local fishing sector. He also noted that the fishing ban was counterproductive for the Philippines as it forced fishing companies to harvest in its national waters, which is considered to be a spawning ground for various types of tuna, he said.
Source : http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/apr/04/tuns-fishing-ban-pacific-ocean?intcmp=122
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Sustainability Update : Shocking Tuna footage shows industry realities – Greenpeace
New video footage captured by a tuna industry whistleblower has been released by Greenpeace, which reveals the routine slaughter of other marine species, including whale sharks, rays and whales. The footage is shot onboard a tuna fishing vessel in the
Pacific which deploys fish aggregating devices, one of the most aggressive fishing operations used by the industry in the face of declining fish populations owing to overfishing.Warning: this footage contains images that some may find disturbing
Greenpeace video : http://gu.com/p/33ef8
Source : http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/video/2011/nov/18/footage-tuna-industry-slaughter-video
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Bluefin tuna sighting off Dorset ‘significant’
When a spear fisherman caught a bluefin tuna off the coast of Dorset, news of his unusual catch quickly spread. The BBC reports
The presence of a bluefin off Portland in July has attracted the attention of conservation groups since the critically endangered species is seldom seen there.
Dorset Wildlife Trust described the catch as “irresponsible” but added the sighting of bluefin tuna there was significant.
Kathryn Dawson, from the trust, said records of tuna sightings in the area had been kept for 70 years and were “pretty rare and quite special”.
“Bluefin tuna has historically been present in waters around the UK and this is the first time we’ve had a verified identification in Dorset,” she said.
Over-fishing of tuna has led to strict controls and quotas in the oceans where it is most commonly found.
Popular as sushi
Bluefin tuna is caught in the Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean, with smaller quantities fished from the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean.
“Start Quote
If anyone catches and releases a tuna we would like to know”
Kathryn DawsonDorset Wildlife Trust
The biggest market for the fish is Japan, where people eat it raw in sushi.
Bluefin numbers began to decline in the 1960s with the introduction of new fishing methods, with over-fishing leading to its critically endangered status.
In Dorset, Ms Dawson suggests a possible reason for their reappearance was that they were following a food supply.
She said: “We don’t know for sure why they were there, it could be that they were returning to waters they once used, for some reason, or could have been there all along but just hadn’t been seen.
“We haven’t had these in our waters in years – but we are meant to have them.”
The Dorset coast, and in particular Weymouth and Portland, is popular with both commercial and recreational anglers, and Ms Dawson believes most people who fish there would know not to catch and kill – or “land” – a tuna.
‘Catch and release’
Weymouth-based fisherman Dave Pitman has run fishing trips from the town’s harbour for the past 35 years.
Fish caught by his customers are often put back into the sea, and can include dogfish, skate and turbot.
He said the man who caught the tuna had seen two of them, and caught it using a spear gun while he was diving.
He said: “If you caught a tuna most people would go mad [with excitement], but we know they are endangered and to not fish for them in this country.”
Ms Dawson urged fishermen to follow the practice of “catch and release”, which is also a way of helping to preserve local fish stocks.
“We appreciate that anglers are excited but they need to look after their own resources,” she said.
“If anyone catches and releases a tuna we would like to know.”
Dorset Wildlife Trust’s Peter Tinsley said: “It would be irresponsible to intentionally kill one of these fish and it would be sad to see another killed in Dorset.”
The Marine Management Organisation (MMO) is calling for vigilance from the fishing industry to ensure it does not catch bluefin tuna and “strongly discourages” any targeted fishing of the species
LINK : http://environmentaleducationuk.wordpress.com/2011/08/08/fish-farm-breakthrough-that-could-save-the-bluefin/
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End of line for our fisheries and sea life? Let’s take a stand!
The Independent reports:
European Union countries are still arguing about introducing a ban on the trade in Atlantic bluefin tuna. Conservationists say that such a ban is the only way to save the over-fished species from extinction.
Channel 4 featured ‘End of the Line’ http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-end-of-the-line
MY VIEW: We are, without apparent thought or concern, fishing out our marine resources as if they were a bottomless pit… Just because we live mostly on land, we seem to regard the sea and its life as ‘there for the taking’ and to hell with the consequences!? ‘Out of eyesight, so out of mindset??’ As the producer says: ‘This is not a film about what might happen, this is a film about what has happened.’
Resources: Marine Conservation Society’s downloadable sustainable fish guide
http://www.mcsuk.org/downloads/fisheries/MCSPocket_Good_Fish_Guide.pdf
End of the Line blog: http://endoftheline.com/blog/archives/1026
Full article from The Independent
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/eu-nations-split-on-whether-to-ban-trade-in-tuna-1917058.html
The proposal is top of the agenda for the conference of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites), which begins in Doha at the end of next week. The EU is divided over the issue between countries which have major tuna fisheries themselves, such as France, and those which do not, including Britain.
If adopted in full, the plan, which was put forward by Monaco, would save one of the sea’s most majestic fish from vanishing. Its highly-prized and hugely-valuable flesh is much in demand, principally from the Japanese. A single 500lb tuna fetched £111,000 on the Tokyo fish market two months ago, making it the most valuable fish ever sold.
If adopted in full, the plan, which was put forward by Monaco, would save one of the sea’s most majestic fish from vanishing. Its highly-prized and hugely-valuable flesh is much in demand, principally from the Japanese. A single 500lb tuna fetched £111,000 on the Tokyo fish market two months ago, making it the most valuable fish ever sold.
By listing the bluefin on Cites’ Appendix 1, all international trade in the species would be banned, and the Japanese, the biggest buyers by far, would no longer be able to purchase the thousands of tonnes of tuna caught by European fisheries each year. The end of the Japanese trade would undoubtedly torpedo the demand which is driving overfishing.
A streamlined predator which can grow to 12 feet in length, weigh half a tonne, and travel rapidly through the water, Thunnus thynnus, the bluefin tuna, has been celebrated for its culinary qualities since antiquity.
It was once plentiful, but stocks are now quickly tumbling, and there are widespread fears that it could soon become commercially extinct. It migrates from the Atlantic each year to spawn in the Mediterranean, where much of the fishery is concentrated.
The EU’s member states have been arguing about the trade ban proposal since it was first advanced last year. However, although the EU’s executive branch, the European Commission, finally recommended 10 days ago that member states should back it, it is becoming clear that substantial differences still exist with the community.
In particular, Europe’s six major tuna fishers – France, Spain, Italy, Greece, Malta and Cyprus – want an exception to be made for “artisanal fisheries”, using local fishing boats as opposed to “industrial” vessels.
But “artisanal” is not yet precisely defined, and it is clear that local fishing fleets could themselves be responsible for thousands of tonnes of the tuna catch which could then be sold on to Japanese buyers – thus negating the impact of the trade ban.
Britain is strongly opposed to the “artisanal” get-out clause, government sources made clear yesterday, as are other EU member states that are not involved in tuna fishing.
An official pointed out that “artisanal” fisheries might be responsible for between 10 and 40 per cent of the trade taking place at the moment.
Discussions are continuing in Brussels between officials, but if agreement cannot be reached the issue will have to go to a meeting of ministers.
The issue of the 27 EU member states taking a common line is key, as the European lobby is likely to swing votes if it is united. To secure the listing of the bluefin on the Cites Appendix 1, two-thirds of the delegates must vote in favour of the ban. Cites currently has 175 member nations.
The Doha meeting will also consider proposals to ban trade in polar bears, red coral and some sharks, including the probeagle and the spiny dogfish – the “rock salmon” of old-fashioned fish and chip shops in Britain – as well as proposals to tighten the trade in body parts of rhinoceroses and tigers.
It will further consider a request from Tanzania and Zambia to sell their stocks of legally held ivory – something Hilary Benn, the Environment Secretary, has already said Britain will oppose.
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