Joshua Reichert, the managing director of the Pew Environment Group, writes in the Los Angeles Times that commercial overfishing has slashed the population of this ocean giant off the U.S by more than 82%. He states that the population that spawns in U.S. waters "has declined by 82% since the 1970s, as commercial fishing fleets have responded to plunging catches by simply fishing more intensively, as if the supply were inexhaustible." And he argues that the Obama administration should list it as endangered to give the species a chance to recover.
The Obama administration has indicated that when it comes to international agreements, it’s giving high priority to arms control, human rights, law enforcement, investment and maritime law. With respect to the environment, it has listed climate change, plant genetic resources and persistent organic pollutants, among other issues.
Tuna fish haven’t been mentioned.
Unfortunately, that omission reveals a sea of trouble, which the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has a rare chance to correct if it acts quickly, and if NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco follows her best scientific instincts.
The Atlantic bluefin tuna isn’t the tuna your children eat for lunch. As one of the fastest swimming and most valuable of all fish in our oceans, it doesn’t come in a can but rather appears on the menus of only the priciest restaurants. And it’s in dire straits. The population that spawns in U.S. waters has declined by 82% since the 1970s, as commercial fishing fleets have responded to plunging catches by simply fishing more intensively, as if the supply were inexhaustible.