Yes the Bluefin Tuna is rapidly become a species on the verge of collapse, but should we really consider it to be extinct?
In November 2009, a meeting occurred in Brazil in which negotiators from the United States tried to convince everyone that the Bluefin Tuna are an endangered species and they need to be protected. By proclaiming the tuna as endangered, the selling of the tuna would result in a ban on international trade.
Banning international trade could be both a good thing and a bad thing. On the one hand, it would stop fishermen in the Mediterranean and in Europe from overfishing with the hopes of selling more to countries like Japan . But on the other hand, an international trade ban would hinder the United States bluefin tuna industry, who has actually been fishing sustainable low quotas for about two decades.
When we put the numbers into the equation, the United States fisherman are only allowed to catch 2,000 metric tons of fish per year while the European and African fisherman have reported catching around 35,000 metric tons in 2007. Then of course you also have to take into consideration the vast amount of fish that were caught illegally in the Mediterranean , roughly 24,000 metric tons in 2008!! Is calling the Bluefin Tuna an endangered species really worth stopping the trade internationally and therefore punishing the United States ?! I’m not sure. I don’t want the U.S. market to fall any more than it already is, but I’m also favorable to stopping overfishing and saving the Bluefin Tuna.
Decisions, decisions
Fraser, Doug. "Bluefin Tuna Protection Pushed." Cape Cod Times (2009): 2. Web. 27 Feb 2010.
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