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Monday, January 3, 2011
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Bluefin Tuna get a raw deal
I remember as a child, looking with awe at the old photographs of Hemmingway standing on the docks of Cat Cay, Bimini, next to those great fish he had wrestled from the sea, and I wonder how much those pictures influenced my notion of the sea. Maybe I believed him when he evoked Milton’s description of “A dark Illimitable ocean without bound,Without dimension....” It was in those early days that I traveled with my father while he was a surveyor for the US Coast and Geologic Survey, from the cold rocky coasts of Maine, the splashing surf of Montauk, the brimming bay at Kiptopeke, the entire coast of Florida and the gulf haunts from Mobile to Galveston. In all of these places, there was a mystery and belief in the limitless bounty and life of the sea. But I was wrong.
The great Bluefin Tuna is in danger of collapse and on the brink of extinction, and as reported by the Virginia Pilot, a U.S. proposal to temporarily ban bluefin fishing in the Eastern fishery to allow the species to recover was overwhelmingly rejected the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) Ironically, this same commission also reports that nearly forty years of overfishing have depleted the stock of these giants to just 3% of its 1960 totals - a decline of 97%. Atlantic White Marlins are down to 6%, and Atlantic Blue Marlins have been driven to 20% of previous abundance. Intensified research has led to a better understanding of the Bluefin, but recent assessments show the population is at its lowest recorded levels, at the same time that fishing pressure is at its highest. Dockside reports from Atlantic fishers confirm what the scientific reports show – the Western Atlantic Bluefin populations continue to decline.
The great Bluefin Tuna are magnificent fish; they average ten feet in length and can weigh over 1,500 pounds. Atlantic Bluefin are warm-blooded ("homeothermic ") and are therefore able to regulate their body temperatures, which allows them to thrive in colder waters. Exceptional swimmers, they have been known to achieve speeds up to 20 knots and have been timed crossing the Atlantic Ocean in thirty days or less. They also have the ability to dive up to 3,000 feet in a matter of minutes. Unlike most tunas, Bluefin grow slowly and mature late, making them more vulnerable to intensive fishing. Demand is high since it is especially popular in sushi and sashimi dishes. In Japan, they can command prices of up to $100,000, (it is curious that ICCAT rejected the U.S. proposal, and instead adopted a Japanese proposal that requested that nations that fish the Eastern bluefin fishery submit a report to the commission that details how they are complying with the 2006 fishing plan that's in place.).
Note: Canned tuna purchased in the super market is most likely Yellowfin, Skipjack, Albacore or Bigeye (mostly the non-schooling fish).
According to Carl Safina of Blue Ocean Institute, the major cause for the decline of Bluefins is the unrestrained use of non-selective fishing gear, mainly pelagic longlines and seine or drift gillnets. Pelagic longlines can be over 25 miles in length and set with thousands of hooks. These nets and lines accidentally capture unmarketable juveniles; the majority of these fish are already dead when they reach the vessel. In many cases, the bycatch and bykill is larger than the actual number of marketable target fish caught.
But there are efforts to save the Bluefin. Earthjustice, on behalf of Blue Ocean Institute and Carl Safina, filed a lawsuit challenging the failure of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to limit longline fishing in the Gulf of Mexico. Dr. Safina is calling for the NMFS to close longline fishing in Bluefin spawning areas in the Gulf during the spawning season.
According to Dr. Safina and Earth Justice, there may be even fewer than 10,000 Bluefin left, “This is a charismatic fish species, a major predator that plays a crucial role in the web of oceanic life – but its population is at a dangerously low level. Bluefin populations have been steadily declining for the last 20 years. The Fisheries Service has a responsibility to follow the law, recognize the important scientific discoveries that show the Bluefin spawns during certain times and places when longline fishing is killing off huge numbers of fish, and protect the spawning Bluefin.”
Commercial fishing does most of the damage, but it is not the only culprit. The National Marine Fisheries Service estimates that 23 percent of the total Bluefin tuna killed in the Atlantic are killed for sport. Recreational anglers can also obtain commercial permits, so a great many giant Bluefin currently caught recreationally are marketed commercially; in Massachusetts, recreation charters are routinely run by commercial wholesalers who buy the catch from the “recreational angler”. In our area, a fairly well established charter or party-boat fishery for small Bluefin tuna also exists from the Outer Banks to Rudee Inlet (and actually on up to Massachusetts). There are an estimated 15,000 recreational anglers using this fishery annually, and this is the only U.S. fishery allowed to catch Bluefin that are below the minimum commercial size (1.78 m from tip to tail).
When I think back to when I was a kid, traveling the coasts with my dad, I wonder how it could have ever come to this. The worry is that later generations will be unaware of the abundance that used to be our seas, and the current levels will be viewed as the norm. Fisheries Biologist Daniel Pauley calls this “shifting baselines”, a metric that allows us to shift our notions of a depleted sea without understanding what has actually been lost.
Despite it all, I still enjoy viewing the old photos of proud fisherman standing by these thousand pound giants. They invoke a nostalgic feeling of when we still believed that the sea was indeed limitless. But I would caution us now, that each new photo we take is an image of a fish that will no longer be able to spawn or help propagate its species. As amazing (and fun to catch!) as they are, it’s time to let them be. Avoid charters that go after Bluefin or Marlin. And exercise good judgment; your food choices can make a difference. Ask the fishmonger about where his fish comes from, and don’t buy Bluefin or Swordfish. If you enjoy seafood (especially sushi), ask the chef what kind of tuna is being served. If it’s Bluefin, don’t order it.
The downward trend can be turned around, but only by employing restraint and common sense; in short, a sea ethic that preserves the integrity, stability, and beauty of the ocean and the creatures that live in it.
The great Bluefin Tuna is in danger of collapse and on the brink of extinction, and as reported by the Virginia Pilot, a U.S. proposal to temporarily ban bluefin fishing in the Eastern fishery to allow the species to recover was overwhelmingly rejected the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) Ironically, this same commission also reports that nearly forty years of overfishing have depleted the stock of these giants to just 3% of its 1960 totals - a decline of 97%. Atlantic White Marlins are down to 6%, and Atlantic Blue Marlins have been driven to 20% of previous abundance. Intensified research has led to a better understanding of the Bluefin, but recent assessments show the population is at its lowest recorded levels, at the same time that fishing pressure is at its highest. Dockside reports from Atlantic fishers confirm what the scientific reports show – the Western Atlantic Bluefin populations continue to decline.
The great Bluefin Tuna are magnificent fish; they average ten feet in length and can weigh over 1,500 pounds. Atlantic Bluefin are warm-blooded ("homeothermic ") and are therefore able to regulate their body temperatures, which allows them to thrive in colder waters. Exceptional swimmers, they have been known to achieve speeds up to 20 knots and have been timed crossing the Atlantic Ocean in thirty days or less. They also have the ability to dive up to 3,000 feet in a matter of minutes. Unlike most tunas, Bluefin grow slowly and mature late, making them more vulnerable to intensive fishing. Demand is high since it is especially popular in sushi and sashimi dishes. In Japan, they can command prices of up to $100,000, (it is curious that ICCAT rejected the U.S. proposal, and instead adopted a Japanese proposal that requested that nations that fish the Eastern bluefin fishery submit a report to the commission that details how they are complying with the 2006 fishing plan that's in place.).
Note: Canned tuna purchased in the super market is most likely Yellowfin, Skipjack, Albacore or Bigeye (mostly the non-schooling fish).
According to Carl Safina of Blue Ocean Institute, the major cause for the decline of Bluefins is the unrestrained use of non-selective fishing gear, mainly pelagic longlines and seine or drift gillnets. Pelagic longlines can be over 25 miles in length and set with thousands of hooks. These nets and lines accidentally capture unmarketable juveniles; the majority of these fish are already dead when they reach the vessel. In many cases, the bycatch and bykill is larger than the actual number of marketable target fish caught.
But there are efforts to save the Bluefin. Earthjustice, on behalf of Blue Ocean Institute and Carl Safina, filed a lawsuit challenging the failure of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to limit longline fishing in the Gulf of Mexico. Dr. Safina is calling for the NMFS to close longline fishing in Bluefin spawning areas in the Gulf during the spawning season.
According to Dr. Safina and Earth Justice, there may be even fewer than 10,000 Bluefin left, “This is a charismatic fish species, a major predator that plays a crucial role in the web of oceanic life – but its population is at a dangerously low level. Bluefin populations have been steadily declining for the last 20 years. The Fisheries Service has a responsibility to follow the law, recognize the important scientific discoveries that show the Bluefin spawns during certain times and places when longline fishing is killing off huge numbers of fish, and protect the spawning Bluefin.”
Commercial fishing does most of the damage, but it is not the only culprit. The National Marine Fisheries Service estimates that 23 percent of the total Bluefin tuna killed in the Atlantic are killed for sport. Recreational anglers can also obtain commercial permits, so a great many giant Bluefin currently caught recreationally are marketed commercially; in Massachusetts, recreation charters are routinely run by commercial wholesalers who buy the catch from the “recreational angler”. In our area, a fairly well established charter or party-boat fishery for small Bluefin tuna also exists from the Outer Banks to Rudee Inlet (and actually on up to Massachusetts). There are an estimated 15,000 recreational anglers using this fishery annually, and this is the only U.S. fishery allowed to catch Bluefin that are below the minimum commercial size (1.78 m from tip to tail).
When I think back to when I was a kid, traveling the coasts with my dad, I wonder how it could have ever come to this. The worry is that later generations will be unaware of the abundance that used to be our seas, and the current levels will be viewed as the norm. Fisheries Biologist Daniel Pauley calls this “shifting baselines”, a metric that allows us to shift our notions of a depleted sea without understanding what has actually been lost.
Despite it all, I still enjoy viewing the old photos of proud fisherman standing by these thousand pound giants. They invoke a nostalgic feeling of when we still believed that the sea was indeed limitless. But I would caution us now, that each new photo we take is an image of a fish that will no longer be able to spawn or help propagate its species. As amazing (and fun to catch!) as they are, it’s time to let them be. Avoid charters that go after Bluefin or Marlin. And exercise good judgment; your food choices can make a difference. Ask the fishmonger about where his fish comes from, and don’t buy Bluefin or Swordfish. If you enjoy seafood (especially sushi), ask the chef what kind of tuna is being served. If it’s Bluefin, don’t order it.
The downward trend can be turned around, but only by employing restraint and common sense; in short, a sea ethic that preserves the integrity, stability, and beauty of the ocean and the creatures that live in it.
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