Goodbye Bluefin Tuna

[Malbekh]

BBC News - UN body rejects bluefin tuna ban

It was nice knowing you.

[fiannafailure]

BBC News - UN body rejects bluefin tuna ban

It was nice knowing you.

Malbekh

I wouldn't give up just yet, the major fishery for bluefin tuna is within the EU jurisdiction and sphere of influence.

There is a very real sustainable ethos within the EU at the moment and a case could be made that an EU ban could have an effect.

[Tombo]

Not sure about the science behind this, but would think that extinction is highly unlikely.

While they might be fished to extreme rarety, that point is likely to also coincide with the fish becomeing so elusive and hard to catch that the economics of fishing for them collapses - even in the face of what would be much much higher prices. At that they might recover to some point before fishing becomes economical again.

Also add in the variable of farming, which would also help to keep prices down in face of rarety of the wild. Some fascinating tuna farming goes on off the coast of South Australia.

[odie1kanobe]

mmmmm Sushi with some soya sauce and wasabi...........a favourite of mine

[MsAnneThrope]

mmmmm Sushi with some soya sauce and wasabi...........a favourite of mine

So much for the bluefin slump eh?

[ibis]

Malbekh

I wouldn't give up just yet, the major fishery for bluefin tuna is within the EU jurisdiction and sphere of influence.

There is a very real sustainable ethos within the EU at the moment and a case could be made that an EU ban could have an effect.

I'm not so sure:

The EU has to vote as a bloc in these negotiations, and nations with active tuna fleets such as France, Italy and Spain had been unwilling to support an outright, immediate ban

More detailed - who blocked the EU from adopting an outright ban position:

Mediterranean EU countries block bluefin tuna ban

Malta, Cyprus, Spain, Italy, France, and Greece block ban at Brussels meeting despite support from 21 EU governments

So it probably is goodbye:

Stocks of the fish in the Mediterranean have hit almost extinction level, according to experts, with bluefin tuna thought to be below 18% of the total in 1970.

[ibis]

While they might be fished to extreme rarety, that point is likely to also coincide with the fish becomeing so elusive and hard to catch that the economics of fishing for them collapses

The problem there is that unrelated breeding partners also become "elusive and hard to catch" for the tuna themselves, which is a bit of a problem.

[birthday]

Given our own tardiness in stopping commercial salmon fishing we are not in a position to look down on the Club Med countries in relation to blufin tuna.
Any data yet on the potential recovery of salmon in our rivers?

[MsAnneThrope]

Pat Kenny covered this on his radio show last week. Click here for the link to listen to it again.

Imagine an ocean without fish. Imagine your meals without seafood. It’s a nightmare scenario but a very real one according to the makers of a documentary titled, “The End of the Line”, which is being screened to global audiences. The film reports on the impact of overfishing on our oceans, the threat of extinction of bluefin tuna, the disappearance of cod in the seas off Newfoundland and the effect that massive factory ships have on marine life.

Journalist Charles Clover, who presents the documentary, has confronted politicians and celebrity restaurateurs in his quest to highlight the issue.

He joined Pat this morning as did Michael Keatinge of BIM

Here is the link for The End Of The Line film.

[rubensni]

mmmmm Sushi with some soya sauce and wasabi...........a favourite of mine

All the more reason to advocate a sustainable policy.