April 14, 2009
Bluefin tuna extinct by 2012
The WWF last warned about bluefin tuna going extinct only 6 months ago – now, as European fishing fleets prepare to begin their two-month Mediterranean fishing season tomorrow, the WWF says bluefin tuna that spawn – those aged four years and older – will have disappeared by 2012 at current rates.
Demand from Japan has triggered an explosion in hunting over the past decade and they even use illegal spotter planes to track the tuna.
The WWF and other campaign groups say bluefin can only be saved by a complete halt to fishing in May and June as the fish rush through the Straits of Gibraltar to spawn in the Mediterranean.
Here’s a scene you don’t see everyday; watch the guy to the right as he clubs the tuna over the head to kill it:
UPDATE: 6/27/2010: From today’s NYT’s: Tuna’s End
4 responses to 'Bluefin tuna extinct by 2012'
What do you think about that?
- 380lb. lemon shark sets new game fish record
I think the guy is a total dickface for killing it. What's the point? Moron. Next time put it back, especially prime breeding stock of that size.
---------------------------------------- - Shem Creek Park, you CAN get there from here!
awesome....i love it
---------------------------------------- - Bluefin tuna extinct by 2012
If the bluefin tuna disappears, it's the beginning of a slow acting chain reaction of extinction. The sooner we wise up and start looking for alternatives to overfishing, the better,...
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Who gives a diddly. Tuna aren’t a lower level of the food pyramid in the wild. If they’re gone, it’ll level out over time.
Blank’s comment begs another concern about the entire food pyramid. The oceans are in deep trouble. Acidification from increased CO2 in the atmosphere will wipe out EVERY living thing in the ocean by 2050 except jellyfish and algae if we don’t do something about CO2 emissions. Pressure from overfishing and dead zones from fertilizers are two other huge threats. It’s time we gave the oceans a break.
You’re absolutely right Sadseas, something we’ve also talked about at http://bit.ly/hnxB3C
If the bluefin tuna disappears, it’s the beginning of a slow acting chain reaction of extinction. The sooner we wise up and start looking for alternatives to overfishing, the better, else, say goodbye to the oceans in general, and everything in them.