Sushi eaters pushing Pacific bluefin tuna to brink of extinction

[UglyGreed]

The never-ending demand for Pacific bluefin tuna among sushi lovers is driving the iconic fish towards extinction, a conservation group said.

The Swiss-based International Union for Conservation of Nature upgraded the status of the tuna from "least concern" to "vulnerable," which means it is now threatened with extinction. Target by the fishing industry for the sushi and sashimi markets in Japan and other parts of Asia, an increasing number of the fish are caught as juveniles which has caused its population to drop as much as 33 percent in the past two decades.

"The Pacific Bluefin Tuna market value continues to rise," said Bruce Collette, Chair, IUCN Species Survival Commission Tuna and Billfish Specialist Group. "Unless fisheries implement the conservation and management measures developed for the Western and Central Pacific Ocean, including a reduction in the catches of juvenile fish, we cannot expect its status to improve in the short term."

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/sushi-eaters-pushing-pacific-bluefin-tuna-to-brink-of-extinction/

[UglyGreed]

1. More good news!

Bluefin tuna catch limits increased to 2,000 tonnes for 2015

Ecology Action Centre says move will hurt efforts to help fish

A decision by an international regulator to increase catch limits for the endangered Atlantic bluefin tuna won praise from the Canadian government Monday, but a Nova Scotia ecology group says the move could hurt a species once devastated by overfishing.

The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, meeting for the past week in Genoa, Italy, said the annual catch limit for the western population of the lucrative species will rise from 1,750 tonnes to 2,000 tonnes next year and stay at that level in 2016.

'Short-sighted' decision


http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/bluefin-tuna-catch-limits-increased-to-2-000-tonnes-for-2015-1.2837862