Wednesday, February 28, 2018

Bluefin tuna news early in 2018


I recently checked in on the status of bluefin tuna.  The news is decidedly mixed.  Catches are up in some regions, and that meant that the fisherpeople immediately wanted quotas raised.  Which in most places they were.

Japan, the number one bluefin tuna consumer in the world, missed its quota last year, and they appear on track to do it again this year.  That is not good, of course.


Japanese fishermen urged not to catch small bluefin tuna until the end of June

"As of January, Japanese fisherman had harvested 3,201 tons of small bluefin tuna, or 93 percent of the quota."


Japan likely to exceed quota on bluefin tuna for 2nd year
"During the previous season — from July 2016 to June 2017 — Japan exceeded its quota of 4,007 tons by more than 300 tons, which was then subtracted from the quota for the current season.

The Pacific bluefin tuna stock was 160,000 tons in 1961, but overfishing by Japan and others drastically reduced this to 17,000 tons in 2014.  [Yikes.]

Therefore, Japan, the world’s largest catcher and consumer of bluefin tuna, led an effort to introduce international catch limits, which were imposed on immature small tuna in 2015 and on adult fish in 2017."

But there is some good news from other sectors.

Monaco Sea Fishing Federation:  Protecting the bluefin tuna
"The Federation practices catch and release, with special materials to prevent the fish from being injured in the process. The Federation hopes to help with the collection of data on the bluefin tuna population in the Mediterranean with this technique. It’s a project supported by the WWF and the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation. 
David Gamba, President of the Sea Fishing Federation, said that the Mediterranean has a nursery zone, or a reproduction zone for the bluefin tuna, which has sparked questions like: What are the Bluefin’s population numbers? What is its seasonality, is the species present all year round, or does it migrate? According to the Federation’s recent studies, it seems as though there is one population which is internal and remains in the Mediterranean and another one which is very migratory." 
Maybe with more people like the Monaco Sea Fishing Federation, bluefin tuna still have a chance.





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