Could the loss of the bluefin tuna be good for Earth and mankind?

OK, it's official now: bluefin tuna will now be fished to near-extinction. The decisive thumbs-down vote on a trade ban on bluefin tuna, not considering it to be an endangered species, shows that the unenlightened nations of the world (and I definitely include Japan in this category) will put their appetites before their reason, and ignore the strong advice and knowledge of scientists, and fish until the ability to make money catching particular fish disappears. The remnant populations will struggle to maintain viability.

Within a year or two, as the bluefin tuna catch dwindles, the price for the remaining ones will skyrocket - instead of blanching when reading about a bluefin that sold for about $175K U.S., soon we will read about a bluefin going for $250K, $300K, even $500K -- as much as the market will bear. And that increases the incentive to fish them into oblivion.

But what has been needed by the environmental movement, stymied by denialists on climate change and by economic selfish-interest in terms of animal trade, as well as simply the pressures of population, is a highly visible disaster. Losing the Yangtze freshwater dolphin -- hardly anyone had heard of that. Tigers might do it, but due to conservation efforts and despite poaching, tigers will hang on in the wild yet.

But bluefin tuna could be viably erased in the Atlantic and Mediterranean within a matter of years. When the catch plummets below the set limits -- when the longlines come back empty -- this will make news. When Tsukuji closes because there are no fish to sell, this will make news. When Nobu has no bluefin otoro on the menu, celebrities will notice. This will have impact. This will open collective eyes that there are many other species facing a similar path to demise.

Joseph Hennon, a spokesman for the European Commission, said the new focus on bluefin had shifted the attitudes of some European Union members, which have started thinking about the long-term economic implications of overfishing. "If there's no fish for them, there's no fishery," he said.

And from this: Japan's lobbying sinks bluefin tuna curbs

we hear:

"Top Japanese negotiator Masanori Miyahara described the proposed ban as unworkable and unfair.

"We are very serious about bluefin tuna," he said in an interview with Agence France-Presse. "If they are really concerned about the future of the bluefin tuna, let's stop the fishing --that's the best way."

[Take him up on it!]

And he also said:

In Doha, Mr. Miyahara said Japan could do without the bluefin, given that the species accounts for just 3% of the "high quality tuna" consumed there.

"If bluefin doesn't come to the Japanese market, no problem, we can give it up," he said.

[So give it up already!]

So maybe the loss of the bluefin could be a bellwether and alarm signal that we humans really can destroy the ecosystem of the oceans. I thought for years that the collapse of the Grand Banks cod fishery would do it, but it didn't. I thought there would be attention when studies showed the plummeting size of big predatory fish, and reported that stocks were down 90%, that would create attention to this issue.

I was wrong. It will take the utter disappearance of what is expected to be there to cause changes.

By then it will be too late for the bluefin tuna. But maybe other fish will benefit from its sacrifice on the altar of commerce.

In related news, the wild sturgeon of the Caspian rivers is nearly extinct, too.