US environmental group says the world’s insatiable appetite for sushi puts tuna stocks at risk of extinction.
An environmental group is taking legal action in the US to try to save the Pacific bluefin tuna from extinction.
The Arizona-based Center for Biological Diversity says the world’s insatiable appetite for sushi, especially in Japan, has caused stocks to drop by 96 per cent since large-scale fishing began. It has filed a legal petition calling on the US National Marine Fisheries Service to prohibit fishing for Pacific bluefin.
The group’s lawyer, Catherine Kilduff, told Pacific Beat saving Pacific bluefin tuna requires drastic action at all levels, starting by protecting them in the feeding grounds off California and Mexico.
“The US alone will not be able to save bluefin tuna because the highest catch goes to Japan,” she said.
“I think has the potential to mobilise other countries to also reduce catch significantly of the Pacific bluefin tuna.”
Ms Kilduff says if the group’s petition is successful, the result will have some influence on Japan. “Right now, Japan is taking the position that international conventions don’t apply within their waters and so, in order to motivate countries to take action within their waters, we need to lead by example,” she said.
“The decline has become particularly serious recently because of the use of coastal purse seine catch many of the juveniles and don’t allow them to mature.
“The scientists have said the adults that we have now are going to start dying soon, and the juveniles are not able to reach maturity, meaning that they’re not able to produce the next generation of Pacific bluefin tuna because they’re caught too soon.
“So this really is potentially the end of the line for Pacific bluefin tuna — we need action now, we need worldwide action now, and we should be taking responsible action here on the US west coast to reduce our catches.”
