Are BlueFin Tunas at Risk of being over Fished?
...sold at auction for $175,000 in the Tokyo central seafood market” (Marin 1). Since the 1970s, it has been estimated that because of over fishing, the population has declined from a quarter million to 22,000 (Roach 2). In the past researchers thought that bluefin tunas would migrate back and forth, from the east to the west, spawning in both the Gulf of Mexico and the Mediterranean Sea. Recently, scientists have found that assumption to be false. With the help of a Gould 2 Stanford University marine biologist, Barbara Block, and her team, we have come to realize that populations in the western and eastern Atlantic have come together and interbred to a larger degree than was what was originally thought (Spotts 2). Researchers such as Dr. Block believe that if the rate of fishing continues as it is then the population of tuna, especially on the eastern side of the Atlantic, will fall dramatically, in turn causing the western side’s quota to fall as well. One opinion on the amount of quota to be given out is by the scientist who feel that if the quota is not lowered or even eliminated then in a few short years the entire species will be gone. Now that we know that the western and eastern populations are interbreeding with each other on their trip across the Atlantic, people are arguing about whether or not the eastern population should have a higher quota. In order to maintain and assure the quotas for generations to come, scientist have come to the conclusion that both the western and the eastern parts of the Atlantic need to have a lowered quota. The opposing position is not to have the quota lowered but instead raised. For many people all over the world, the bluefin tuna is a way of life. Many of the fisherman who catch and sell these tuna do not have any other jobs skills besides fishing, and if the quotas are lowered again or eliminated, then their livelihood as they know it is gone. “Some 60 percent of the world’s fish stocks are over fished or fully utilized” says Rolland Schmitten, former director of the Us Nation Marine ...