Tuna, Most Commercial Fisheries Collapsing Or In Serious Trouble Worldwide

[hatrack]

FAVIGNANA, Italy — "Over thousands of springtimes, as far back as Homer's Odyssey, the fishers of Favignana have battled giant bluefin tuna lured into vast chambers of intricate netting. This year, the nets were empty. The ancient mattanzas (slaughters) of Atlantic tuna who come to spawn in the Mediterranean are now all but gone. The craving for sashimi in Japan and the world beyond has taken its toll, but that is only part of it.

Marine biologists say not only bluefin tuna but also other fish stocks are plummeting across the world, upsetting delicate natural food chains. Some fear irreversible damage has already been done. Even worse, international law experts add, little is being done to stop it. Despite all the evidence, high-tech fleets probe the last deepwater refuges, hardly troubled by authorities. Legal quotas are too high, specialists say, and in any case are often pointless because too many crews lie about their catch.

"This is no sudden crash but rather an extremely slow-speed fatal collision," said Carl Safina, founder of the conservationist Blue Ocean Institute on Long Island in New York. For decades the world has moved blindly toward a precipice, he said. "We have been confronted with signs and warnings and a clear view of the danger. And now we have fallen off. We may deserve it, but our children do not."

EDIT

With a single bluefin worth as much as US$150,000 on the Tokyo market, Italian and Russian organized crime is now involved, U.N. experts say.

University of British Columbia researchers sounded the alarm in 2001, reporting that some fish populations had fallen by as much as 85 percent. They said China drastically underreported its catch. The report, directed by Daniel Pauly, said declassified Cold War technology, aircraft, and U.S. monitoring of water temperatures and ocean bottoms help fishers find hideouts once beyond their reach. A later study by Ran Myers and Boris Worm of Nova Scotia's Dalhousie University reported drops of 90 percent among critical stocks. That brought protests from fishing industry officials, who cited other surveys showing smaller declines. "This is only quibbling over numbers," Safina said. "If it is 60 percent now and not 90 percent, then just wait five years."

EDIT

http://www.enn.com/news/2004-07-14/s_25814.asp

[judge_smales]

1. I keep hearing this, but then I wonder,

"Why is it that I can get 8 cans for 6 bucks at Costco?". Something doesn't add up.

[Salmo Trutta]

2. Because that's not bluefin...

more likely yellowfin or mahi.

[judge_smales]

3. Oh.

Thanks.