Sweeping Report Details the Devastation of Atlantic Bluefin Tuna

Reported in POPSCI: “Environmental groups and wildlife conservation advocates have argued for years that Atlantic bluefin tuna populations are being devastated, but it was difficult to make a hard case. Now a group of investigative journalists have compiled their own detailed and damning report, as well as a companion documentary, tallying the damage done”.

This is the very kind of thing that gets my blood boiling. Authorities responsible for keeping track of fishing quotas and enforcing international regulations simply – and sometimes willfully – do not.

I have stated several times already that basic financial greed is killing us all and this is yet another example. I know many of you know this to be true and on some level I have to apologize for continuing to bring it up but, dammit, it still is true and still needs to be said.

In this particular case, that greed is leading to chronic overfishing which leads to a break down in our food chain. Evidently, the people in charge of this matter are more concerned with lining their own pockets with money than in fostering the long term health of our planet and therefore ourselves. Another display of disrespect for their fellow man.

This is a clear case that these people do not believe in the importance of maintaining a healthy and complete food chain, they do not believe that our planet (and mankind) will suffer greatly when that food chain dissolves, and their actions (inactions) show a complete disregard for international law and our ability to enforce it.

More from the site: “The report, compiled by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), details the abuses carried out in the harvesting of Atlantic bluefin tuna, a marine delicacy that can grow to more than 1,000 pounds and live for up to 40 years – and fetch up to $100,000 per specimen at auction in Tokyo (Japan makes up 80 percent of the bluefin market). The report reveals an intricate web of interests ranging from government agencies down to fishermen and fish markets all willfully ignoring the rules for the sake of profit.”

These illicit practices, the report claims, extend to sea ranching, in which fish are kept in a series of underwater cages and nets, fattened up like cattle, and sold off at auction. Because ranching fish creates a problem for fisherman looking to appear under quota, they quickly figured out how to use the ranches to “launder fish,” falsifying fish counts and the weights of their catches. Barring that, a robust black market arose in loosely regulated places like Turkey and Tunisia, who would take un-counted, illegal fish off ranchers’ hands.