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Saving the Bluefin Tuna Essay

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The allusive bluefin tuna is one of the largest, fastest and highly sought after fish in the wild sea. The Bluefin tuna can weigh over half a ton, grow to over four metres in length, and dive to depths of 1,000 metres. They can reach speeds of 70 miles an hour and even raise their body temperature far above that of the surrounding water in order to traverse arctic waters. They are among the most ambitiously migratory of all fish, with some tagged bluefin being tracked swimming from North American to European waters several times a year. The bluefin tuna is unique, a perfectly adapted products of evolution. They are also dangerously close to becoming extinct (Brown). Today, the bluefin tuna has been fished out by 97 percent from pre-fishing …show more content…

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).
Although bluefin tuna does provide food and livelihoods for many people, they are more than just seafood. The bluefin tuna is a top predator in the marine food chain, maintaining an important balance in the ocean environment (Walsh). Author Brian Walsh writes,“
[Scientist Amanda Nickson from The Pew Charitable Trusts] has recommended, echoed by many other environmental groups and scientists, that the bluefin tuna fishery should be suspended, at least until there’s more effective management that might prevent the overfishing of the bluefin tuna (Walsh).
In a recent assessment done by the International Scientific Committee for bluefin tuna, released in January 2013, found that bluefin spawning stocks, the key measure of adults that can reproduce, have plummeted by about three-quarters over the past 15 years. It’s estimated that the bluefin tuna has dwindled to just 3.6 percent of its original population once found in the fifties. More than 90 percent of blue fin tuna being fished out from the sea today are juveniles between the ages of 0 and 3. (Walsh) The major problem with juvenile

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