The Atlantic bluefin tuna, Thunnus thynnus is a sleek, fast-moving giant that once lived efficiently in the world's oceans for millions of years. This marvel of evolution has endured countless hardships of climate change, predators, and shifts in prey populations, however, nothing compares to the pressures placed on the bluefin by the fishery today. It is a species in dire need of preservation.
The Atlantic Bluefin tuna cruise the coasts of the Northern Atlantic and migrate as far as the southern coasts of Brazil. Weighing as much as 1,500 pounds, growing up to 15ft in length, and swimming as fast as 50 miles per hour, these fish are built for speed and endurance. (WWW. site, cnie.org) Living as long as 30 years, they reach sexual maturity at approximately eight years and almost exclusively breed in the Gulf of Mexico waters. Spawning is a necessity that involves a community of bluefin and results in a relatively small number of surviving offspring. Once mature, because of their size, bluefin tuna have relatively few predators.(Kumai,1998) Prior to the 1960's this population was estimated to be as large as a quarter of a million, however with the introduction of international interests in canned tuna, the population suffered severely. Today, over 90 percent of the estimated stock has been depleted, and the relentless fishing pressure continues, prompted by the demand of the Japanese market.(Safina,1998)
Fishermen throughout the world are attracted to the bluefin because of its extremely high value. In the beginning, bluefin were fished primarily for canned food purposes, and possessed little intrinsic value within the economic market. Unfortunately this is presently not the case due to minimal supply with increasing demands. As a result, bluefin are selling for as much as $100 a pound, allowing a single adult fish to bring in as much as $80,000. For fishermen, who are typically poor and faced with servicing huge loans for their boats and equipment as well as taking care of their families, the lure of the bluefin is understandable. As with most fisheries, the bluefin is a common resource, and there are few effective controls on entry into the fishery at the present time, nor are there strictly enforced limits on catch.(Safina,1998) For each fisherman, the bluefin is a natural resource to be caught and sold. If any one fisherman holds back his catch to let the fishery recover, another one will take his place. Fishermen are aware of this intense competition for the bluefin, yet there is little incentive for them to protect the population (Safina,1998). It is a poorly managed fishery and the results of continued overfishing have been disastrous for the species.
The major fuel for this fishing pressure is the Japanese market.(www site, seaweb) Within Japan, the bluefin tuna is a highly prized sushi delicacy that is served at major occasions such as weddings or celebrating the closing of business deals. The Japanese demand is steady, despite the bluefin's precarious condition. The Japanese observe the rising price, but for fishermen, the declining stock is driving the use of more and more expensive technology that threatens them ultimately with financial ruin. As for the bluefin, of course, the results are fatal. Their population is on the brink of extinction.
Until the 1960s, the technology used in bluefin fishing was relatively primitive, based on rod and line and in some cases spearing. Boats also were small and fishermen often spent weeks searching for the bluefin, and in many years never located the major populations of this mysterious species. Under these conditions, fishing could not seriously damage the stock. Most adults escaped, and juveniles replenished those fish that were caught. It was a sustainable fishery.(Sissenwine, 1995) By the 1960's, however, with the growth of Japanese demand due to attaining high levels of disposable income in that country and the desire for the bluefin delicacy, fishermen began to adopt more advanced technology. Greater competition in the waters and higher rewards for catching bluefin forced fishermen to purchase larger and faster boats that could follow the bluefin across the seas. They adopted sonar technology and spotter planes to search for concentrated feed stocks and unsuspecting bluefin. Huge seiner nets were spread across the water and longlines with hundreds of hooks were distributed to catch the fish.(Safina,1998) The lure of high profits also brought more fishermen, and the ocean became infested with high-tech boats. The bluefin had no chance against this onslaught.
As a commons, the spawning areas were prime targets. Entire communities of bluefin in the Gulf of Mexico were wiped out and the potential for future generations were destroyed.(www.site, usatuna) Juvenile fish were caught and not returned to the sea and many were dead by the time they were pulled on board the boats. This fishery promised a way of quick riches and the stock seemed to be large, fisherman had no incentive to conserve the stock. Even after the numbers fell, no single fisherman could help the fishery because his actions had little impact on overall fishing pressure.
Unrelenting fishing pressure augmented by new technology to supply the Japanese market has been fatal for the bluefin. Even as stocks fall, however, there has been little consensus on what to do to save the species. Fishermen are naturally reluctant to unilaterally cut their harvests. Many are dependent on the bluefin for their economic livelihoods. Their families live off the income the fish bring in and their boat and equipment loans are paid for from bluefin sales. They do not want to "unfairly" bear the burden of reduced fishing. Each fisherman knows that his catch has little impact on the stock. It is the aggregate harvest that is killing the bluefin. Fishermen want their competitors restrained, not them, however, there are many competitors, local and foreign fishermen, sports and commercial fishermen. Due to the diverse interests with this fragmented group, as a unit they do not form a cohesive position on management of the fishery.(www site, cnie)
These differing interests among fishermen are complicated by disputes as to the true state of the stock of bluefin. Even scientists have little clear understanding of the bluefin. Fishermen dismiss the claims of scientists that the stock is dangerously low. They respond that there are more fish "out there." They see the scientists as unsympathetic to their dependency on the fishery and making decisions based on faulty information. Most fishermen then are opposed to strict regulation of the bluefin fishery.(www site, cnie)
Management of the bluefin fishery requires political action, but there are competing constituencies who lobby for regulations in their behalf. The bluefin fishermen want minimal controls, at least on their fishing yet support regulation of "foreign" fishermen. Recreational fishermen also want open access to the fishery, although they often support restrictions on commercial fishermen. The viability of fishing communities is at stake in these regulations. Given the competing economic and political pressures involved, limiting access and devising quotas to reduce fishing pressure has been very difficult. Monitoring them also is very expensive because of the wide-ranging span of the bluefin fishery. Conservationists lobby for more effective controls, but they are hindered by the lack of good information on the fishery. Finally, the Japanese industry that supports the international fishery, lobbies against strict limits.(www site, cnie)
In the face of all of this confusion and political opposition, meaningful limits on entry into the bluefin fishery have not been put into place and quotas have not been designed to sufficiently reduce harvest to allow the stock to recover. Where quotas have been binding, enforcement in local and international waters has been ineffective. With ineffective management, growing demand, and new technology to meet the demand, the bluefin have been doomed. The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT) is a political body comprised of 20 Atlantic rim countries and Japan with the governing purpose to maintain the bluefin population at a max sustainable yield. (www site, ciesin) Unfortunately, because of the unrestricted fishing through the 1960's and 1970's, the bluefin population has been difficult to salvage.( Sissenwine, 1995) In the 1980's, ICCAT began placing catch quotas on the industry, however, this method remains ineffective in revitalizing the population.
All is not lost. As the stock declines, awareness that something must be done is growing. Presently there is a push for listing the bluefin tuna on the Conservation on International Trade in Endangered Species(CITES) list. The purpose of CITIES is to preserve the habitat and welfare of the species in hope of rebuilding the population.(www site, envirotrust) More significantly, including the bluefin tuna in the Endangered Species Act would bring new federal government intervention on behalf of the species. Federal enforcement through the endangered species list could better limit access and control harvest than has been possible under fishery management legislation. The federal government could supplement these controls with more active purchase of boats and community development grants to depressed fishing communities to offset the loss of the fishery which at least temporary. More intense scientific study of the bluefin sponsored by the government to document stocks and convince skeptics would help. Diplomatic pressure could be placed on the Japanese to halt import of the bluefin and consumption taxes could be levied in Japan on bluefin to raise the cost of consumption even more. All of this will take political will, but there is no more time left to preserve this wonder of evolution.
Website references:
http://www.envirotrust.com/esa014.html
http://www.cnie.org/nle/mar-5.html
http://www.seaweb.org/book/tuna.html
http://www.hp.com/abouthp/features/bluefin/
http://www.tunaresearch.org/tagagiant.html
http://www.usatuna.com/default.asp
http://www.fishingnj.org/protuna.html
http://www.iccat.es/orgdec.html
http://www.ireseau.com/usagers/marcelg/thorolna.html
http://www.sedac.ciesin.org/pidb/texts/atlantic.tunas.1966.html
Literature
Craft, Lucille $20,000 for one fish? Bluefin tuna may be worth too much for their own good. International Wildlife v24, n6 (Nov-Dec, 1994): 18.
Kumai, H. Studies on bluefin tuna artificial hatching, rearing, and reproduction. Nippon Suisan Gakkaishi, v.64, n.4, 1998:601-605.
Matsuda, H; Yahara, T; Uozumi, Y. Is tuna critically endangered? Extinction risk of a large and over exploited population. Ecological Research, v.12, n.3, 1997:345-356.
Safina, Carl. Song for the Blue Ocean: encounters along the worlds coasts and beneath the seas. 1st ed. New York, Henry Holt, 1998, xviii.
Sissenwine, Micheal P., Pamela M.; Powers, Joseph E, Scott, Gerald P., A commentary on western Atlantic bluefin tuna assessments. Transaction of the American Fisheries Society, v.127, n.5, Sept. 1995, 838-855.
Smith, Timothy K. The big rush: a giant bluefin is fought and landed; then things get exciting.(Process of catching and exporting bluefin to Japan) Fortune. V134, n10 (Nov 25, 1996):146