Regulating the Bluefin Tuna Fisheries

One of the distinct features of any common resource is that it is a “non-excludable good1”, meaning no one can be prevented from using what is available. As discussed, the consequence of this scenario is that it will produce a socially inefficient outcome. There are differing theories on how to achieve an economically feasible marginal cost and marginal social benefit equilibrium. The difficulty, of course, is to determine what the socially optimal supply level for Bluefin Tuna should be in relation to fish stock restoration and future sustainability as well as empowering the global community to act in unison. The discussion here

In the 1960’s, there was an estimated number of 500,000 dolphins caught as bycatch per year by fishing industries alone(NOAA 8). There was an act, the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act, that was passed in 1972. This act’s main goal was to reduce marine mammal bycatch. This act required that “scientific studies were initiated, observers were placed on fishing boats, fishing gear was inspected, and boat captains with high dolphin mortality rates were reviewed(NOAA 8).” The also modified fishing gear in order to reduce how many dolphins were caught. This act was an incredible success, and dolphin bycatch had “declined from about 500,000 to about twenty thousand dolphins per year(NOAA 8).” This shows how much the fishing industries had improved how they fished in order to protect the dolphins. They also made a requirement that all tuna that was caught through dolphin-safe means be labelled(NOAA 9). This allowed consumers to see what they were buying. Therefore, it became in the interest of fishing industries to catch tuna by means other than through dolphins. Today, there are only about three thousand dolphins killed every year through fishing industries(NOAA 10). There is also a clear distinction between tuna that was caught through dolphin-safe means and otherwise. Therefore, the only thing a consumer has to do is to buy

The earliest accounts of overfishing occurred in the 1800s, when the demand of whale blubber nearly wiped out the whale populations. In the mid 1900s, the harvesting of Atlantic cod, herring, and California sardines drove them to the brink of extinction. These high disruptions cause regional depletions of animal resources which is starting to cause a global problem. There has never been a more urgent time for fishing nations to make a commitment towards the sustainability of our oceans. More than 80% of the world’s fisheries have been, or are being pushed beyond their limits and are in dire need of strict management plans. Populations of fish and elasmobranch fish such as tuna, grouper and sharks have been declining to the point where the survival

Driven by such high prices, many fishermen, chefs and business owners depend on the bluefin tuna industry for a way to support their lives. Respectively so, without sustainable fishing practices and stricter regulations for the bluefin tuna, neither Japan, nor the rest of the world will even have the choice on whether or not eating and fishing bluefin tuna should be an option (Crockett).

100,000. This number might seem large, but with 96.4% of the population declining after fisherman started hunting for these animals, the coveted fish might not be around for much longer. The Thunnus SPP, or better known as the Atlantic Bluefin Tuna, is one of the largest bony fish in the world. At one and a half Mr. Zunic’s in height and 200 bags of potatoes in weight (6-10 feet, 1500 pounds according to animalplanet.com), the Atlantic Bluefin Tuna is almost invincible, to predators in the fish class of vertebrates that is. The Atlantic Bluefin Tuna is critically endangered due to overfishing. One fish was once sold for $1.76 million due to the fish’s delicy. The Atlantic Bluefin Tuna is highly popular at high-end restaurants around the world. Boy, a tuna roll sure does sound great right about now.

This essay will focus on the bluefin tuna industry in Japan, a country which consumes the majority of the global catch. The industry is one driven by the sudden increase in demand for sushi, a Japanese haute food which is now consumed globally. It will also illustrate the uniqueness and important role which the bluefin tuna plays in aquatic ecosystems throughout the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans. Lastly, the issues of globalization and lack of market regulation will be examined as a cause for the collapse in Atlantic bluefin fisheries. The tuna industry in Japan is having negative environmental impacts on the oceanic ecosystem.

There is a common conception that due to the immense size of oceans and it’s species’ richness, species population decline is a rarity. However, such decline may result in a damaged marine ecosystem. A top predator that plays a key role in the marine ecosystem is the Atlantic Bluefin Tuna, Thunnus thynnus. This species is a warm blooded predator that are “highly migratory species that may reach a weight of 900 kg” (). The Western Northern Atlantic Bluefin Tuna migrate primarily to the Gulf of Mexico for spawning during late spring where “larvae are in preferred water temperature ranging from 20 degrees Celsius to 25 degree Celsius” (). They then migrate back to the northern West Atlantic for feeding where there “life span is an average of

Our plan has the United States Department of Interior banning all commercial fishing in Marine Protected Areas,and establishing and enforcing regulations for the recreational use of these areas. The practice of bottom trawling will be banned in U.S. ocean fisheries. This plan will decrease the worry of losing all our fish in the sea. We are harvesting more fish that can be replenished, so banning the practice of bottom trawling and other fishing practices in Marine Protected Areas put fish like tuna in danger. The decrease in tuna cause the marine food chain to change thus causing an abundance of smaller fish such as sardines and anchovies. “Declines of top predators may cascade down food webs, and the implications of these cascading processes

Several fisherman band together to form the business American Tuna to give people a good product to eat. The fisherman would market their own fish that they had caught in the pacific northwest. All fish that were caught were local as well. After the tuna was caught they would be canned in Oregon. The fish are all caught canned and sold locally so you know where your product originates from.

The only reason a tuna from a few weeks ago sold at such an outrageous price ($1.76 million) is due to this scarcity. Fisherman are catching these fish at slightly higher rates- due to increases in fishing technology- and making a lot more than they have made in the past. What could be the downfall when these countries are utilizing their resources to benefit their economy? The article “Fisheries To Cut Catch Of Endangered Bluefin Tuna” states that “Japanese eat 80 percent of the world's Bluefin tuna, or "hon maguro," a sushi mainstay, and demand elsewhere in the world has kept growing”, which highlights that the Japanese heavily rely on the meat of the Bluefin Tuna to nourish its’ people and economy. If this reliance continues as projected, the country will experience a traumatic economic downfall when the species truly does become extinct. Even though the price for the fish is sky high at this moment, when there is no longer a supply, money will not come

In order for there to be plenty of fish in the years ahead, fisheries will have to develop sustainable fisheries and some will have to close. Due to the constant increase in the human population, the oceans have been overfished with a resulting decline of fish crucial to the economy and communities of the world. The control of the world's fisheries is a controversial subject, as they cannot produce enough to satisfy the demand, especially when there aren't enough fish left to breed in healthy ecosystems. Scientists are often in the role of fisheries managers and must regulate the amount of fishing in the oceans, a position not popular with those who have to make a living fishing ever decreasing populations.

According to the United Nations, 17% of fish stocks worldwide are currently overexploited; 52% are fully exploited; and 7% are depleted. This means that only an estimated 20% of worldwide fish stocks are not already at or above their capacity(Seafarms, 2013). Catches of Pacific herring have decreased by 71% since the 1960s, with Atlantic herring catches falling by 63%. Atlantic Cod catches have fallen by 69% in the same time(Seafarms, 2013). These are just a few of many facts and statistics on the topic of overfishing. The effects of these statistics and facts impact people’s and animal's lives around the

All around the world fishing fleets are growing both in quantity and size, and are fishing at a dangerous rate. Overfishing has been the root cause of the drastic drop in sea wildlife at rates too high for fish and whale species to replace themselves, this issue gained attention in the mid-20th century and led the creation of regulation organization policies both from state governments and the organizations. For the past three decades overfishing is still an ongoing environmental issue, there is international support invested in bringing awareness and developing methods to save what has been lost, but there is also international opposition due to the actors either fighting to keep regulations at a minimum or looking for exceptions or loopholes to the regulations, actors are also just not complying with the set regulations. This paper will focus on examining two environmental regimes, fisheries depletion and whaling, both regimes share a number of similarities in regards to being a global commons issue, nature of agreements, and economic profit industries working against them, but they had different outcomes.

The ocean is one of the largest sources of food and income for countries all across the globe. As the fishing industry and human population grow, more and more resources are being taken out of the ocean every year. If this process continues without any type of new regulation, our oceans’ supply of resources will quickly start depleting. Without a sustainable output from our oceans, millions of people will be losing income that they thought they could rely on forever. While most people are not aware of this problem, over the past fifty years overfishing has developed into a huge environmental issue that could have catastrophic global effects on us in the future if left untreated. According to WorldWildlife.org, ”More than 85 percent of the world's fisheries have been pushed to or beyond their biological limits and are in need of strict management plans to restore them”(WWL.org). This statistic shows that most of our oceans’ resources are being overused and depleted. Some of the the most important fish species, for example, the bluefin tuna, have been exploited to the point that their population’s survival is at risk. The overfishing of top predators disrupts marine ecosystems and food chains, leaving a large quantity of smaller populations. This type of imbalance can be very dangerous to the oceans ecosystems by throwing off the natural order of predators.

There are many interesting species of ocean fish. Possibly one of the most economically important, diverse, and interesting species is the tuna. Different species in general have different physical characteristics and appetite. However, across the different species, there are similar migration patterns and fishing techniques. There are five primary kinds of tuna: Bluefin, Yellowfin, Long Tail, Albacore, and Big Eye.