Today, many of the pressing issues and topics related to our world are heavily weighted with matters involving the economy and politics.  Much of the world’s concern has to do with the faltering of national economies, as well as an emphasis and scrutiny of our political leaders and their views.  However, in addition to economic and political concerns, there are growing issues and uncertainties for the health of the world’s environment which may be directly impacted by mankind in matters ranging from global warming to the decline of the world’s animal and fish species.     In considering the enormity and variety of our environmental issues, I would like to more closely examine the present day plight of just two of the world’s fish species so that we might thoughtfully consider the impact that a variety of factors created by man is having on this fish in oceans around the globe.    The species to which I am referring and that are being impacted greatly are known by their scientific names of Thunnus Thynnus and Thunnus Orientalis, and are otherwise known to most of us as Atlantic Bluefin Tuna and Pacific Bluefin Tuna, respectively.   In this paper, I will present evidence from noted conservationists and environmentalists who have presented information from both sides of the issue regarding the challenges these dwindling and endangered species are facing and what we, as concerned citizens of not only the nation but the world, can do about it.  After researching this topic extensively, I hope to show that the majority opinion from the conservation community is that the Bluefin Tuna are a threatened species and could be facing extinction if we don’t adopt policies that will allow the Bluefin to rebound.   

Historically, the plight of these fish really began centuries ago when the people of Southeast Asia began consuming raw fish which they fermented with rice and called sushi.  This Asian dish was referred to as early as the 2nd Century AD in Chinese history.    This culinary practice in Asian countries, and particularly in Japan, to include in their cuisine the delicacy of raw fish or sushi, continues today with the most common species of fish used to make their sacred and distinctive dishes being Bluefin Tuna.   It has been estimated that about 80% of the Bluefin Tuna caught are consumed in Japan and other Asian countries for their cuisine.

       In the Asian markets, a Bluefin can be sold for considerable amounts of money and this reality encourages individuals to excessively harvest the tuna for economic gain.  An example of the prices for these fish was $1.76 million paid by a Japanese restaurant owner in 2013 for a Bluefin Tuna weighing 489 pounds.   (Narula, The Atlantic)   While the harvesting of the fish by today’s regulatory standards is legal, continued overfishing is depleting the stock and population of this natural resource.  Many fishermen catch both Atlantic and Pacific Bluefin Tuna legally and in accordance with permissible limits, but there are many who harvest them illegally and sell their catch in markets that operate under the radar of law enforcement.  Additionally, it is generally agreed, that the American fishing industry utilizes less aggressive harvesting methods than their Asian counterparts. 

     For years the excessive harvesting of tuna went unnoticed until 1994 when a respected scientific national research group brought attention to the decline in populations. Up until the 1990’s there had really not been any major concern for the survival of the Bluefin.   In that year, The National Research Council (NRC) which is part of the National Academies of Science, wrote and published a scholarly review entitled, “An Assessment of Atlantic Bluefin Tuna”.   The NRC examined the possible causes and ramifications of the Bluefin Tuna population continuing to drop.  The Council’s work in 1994 was really a watershed moment in the conservation of the species because it started the beginning of scholarly concern that the species could be under threat. The Council chronicled that in the early 1990’s, a select number of tuna were tagged so researchers could track them and observe their migration routes for several months.  This was really one of the first attempts of tracking when talking about a migrating pelagic fish.  Following the tagging study, the NRC concluded through collaboration with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, otherwise known as NOAA, the NMFS (National Marine Fisheries Service), and other research entities within the United States government, future research projects needed to be continued on the species so that species numbers could be kept in check.  They asserted that only through close monitoring and future extensive research by the scientific and conservation community would the species be allowed to sustain itself rather than face eventual extinction.  

Over the next 20 years conservation research continued and in 2013, Fiona Harvey, an environmental reporter for The Guardian and who has become one of the most vocal and frequent commentators about the decline of the Bluefin, reported that overfishing had resulted in a drop in Bluefin Tuna populations of 96%.  Harvey explored this controversial and often disputed topic through an extensive interview with Amanda Nickson of the PEW Environment Group, a charitable trust organization that funds the research and science backing much of the information and data we have on the species collected from all over the world.  Nickson, a marine scientist and leading authority on the conservation of the Bluefin Tuna and other fish species offered her informed thoughts on this dire and growing problem.   She stated that much of the problem that we are seeing with levels of the tuna species declining is directly tied to the foreign influences that are commercially fishing in waters not only around the United States but off the shores of other countries, as well.  Countries such as Japan, China and Korea all play a big role in depleting stock numbers down to the bare minimum and the actual percentage of Bluefin Tuna’s in the Pacific Ocean showed that the overall population was now just 2.6 percent of what it once was.  Nickson went on to say that for many years, both foreign fishermen and fishermen from the United States were very unregulated in their harvest of the species.  She further stated that there was never really a mandated and regulated size limit, meaning that the fish that were being harvested did not have to meet a certain minimum length requirement to be legally kept.  Additionally, Nickson also pointed out that there was no creel limit which is the limit of the aggregate amount of fish a vessel can take at one time and have on board.   This is huge factor when discussing declining numbers because juvenile fish that were harvested were never given the chance to reach maturity to reproduce and replenish the stock.  This would greatly impact a fishery and it is no surprise as to why the tuna species was becoming scarce and endangered.

In 2015, Fiona Harvey of The Guardian, again wrote another compelling article entitled, “Tuna and Mackerel Populations Suffer Catastrophic 74% Decline, Research Shows”. In this follow up, Harvey examines the rapid depletion of the stock levels of both the Bluefin Tuna and Mackerel species through interviews with many key individuals that lead research and science on the species to ensure a sustainable natural resource.  Harvey’s continued research since 2013 indicated that there had been an average 74 % drop in the overall number of both Atlantic and Pacific Bluefin Tuna in the past 40 years.  Although there was some difference in the percentage of decline based upon the timeline chosen, there was no disagreement that the population drop was significant enough to strongly suggest that the species is headed for extinction at the current rate of decline.   Those interviewed by Harvey stress that the cause of the rapid depletion of the population otherwise known as a “catastrophic decline” is largely a part of the aggressive commercial fishing practices that are used around the world to harvest tuna so they may be sold.  The most prolific area that this type of fishing practice is used in is the Pacific Ocean, particularly by countries such as Korea and Japan because of their extensive use of the fish as a delicacy.    Harvey also pointed out that in addition to the over harvesting from commercial fishing, another problem impacting the species and all ocean life is pollution in the ocean.  Many environmentalists agree that the levels of pollution in all of the world’s oceans are on the rise and with the human population growing at an exponential rate, pollution levels are impacting the oceans’ ecosystems.  This leads to the destruction of natural habitats for these fish to grow and sexually mature, ultimately resulting in less tunas being able to survive and reproduce.  

     Recently, in April of 2016, the Associated Press (AP), in support of the work done by Fiona Harvey, published an article in the Mercury News entitled, “Pacific Bluefin Tuna Populations Have dropped 97 Percent”.  The AP article points out that many of the Asian countries around the world are the largest contributors to the problem of declining Bluefin stocks.  One statistic stated is that Japanese markets consume almost 80 percent of the total amount of tuna consumed in the world.  One way the article suggested we can stop the decline of the species is banning tuna from international trade.  This would cut down on the amount of tuna that are being harvested and would allow for the resource to be replenished.  The article also states that by cutting the catch quota down by 20% would lead to an improvement of a three percent population increase.  The AP noted that many European countries have agreed to limit the harvest of Bluefin Tuna and have also agreed to promote legislation for the ban of tuna being internationally traded.  These same countries have set the bar high and are trying to save 42,592 metric tons of Bluefin harvest by the year 2024. 

     As the topic of species extinction is examined and debated, other conservationists are stepping forward to offer their analysis of the problem and suggest recommendations for remediation of the problem.  In scholarly articles written in February 2017 and entitled,  Range Contraction Enables Harvesting to Extinction” written by Matthew G. Burgess and  “Overfishing Causes Frequent Fish Population Collapses but Rare Extinctions” written by Olivier Le Pape, both authors collaborated on research and wrote on the topic of Range Contraction.  Range contraction is the monitoring of long term population levels and is an integral component of effective species conservation.  Both Burgess and Le Pape say that the price at market has a direct impact on the amount of anglers that pursue them every year.   The scholars agreed that the methods in which the fishermen from the United States harvest the fish and the way that fishermen from countries abroad harvest are vastly different and the authors analyzed the harvesting violations issued to fishermen in several countries.  They state that methods used by the American fishermen are far less aggressive and detrimental than methods used in Japan and other Asian countries.  They found that fishermen from the United States have a significantly lower rate of wildlife offenses involving tuna than other countries.  Fisherman in countries such as China, Japan and Korea all have high citation levels due to the greed that they have and the drive they have to harvest this fish.  Burgess and La Pape also determined that the number of citations dealing with creel limit and size limit are issued more frequently to fishermen in Asian countries than American fishermen.

Although it seems indisputable that the Bluefin Tuna are endangered and are threatened with extinction due to catastrophic decline created by the international fishing industry, there are some scientists and conservationists who point out that the problem is already being effectively addressed.  In September 2017, Clare Leschin-Hoar, a food policy journalist who specializes in sustainable food practices, wrote an interesting article entitled, “Countries Pledge to Recover Dwindling Pacific Bluefin Tuna Population”, and states that countries bordering the Pacific Ocean such as Japan, Mexico, Korea and the United States are currently and effectively assisting in the struggle to get the Bluefin Tuna species away from the extinction point.   Leschin-Hoar maintains that these countries are focusing on getting the numbers back into the range to make them a sustainable species.  One of the primary points of her research is that these countries are working together to achieve a 20 percent target goal for the increase of the populations by 2034.  The author maintains that this is being achieved by enforcing sliding catch limits and quotas in tuna harvesting.  Leschin-Hoar also goes on to say that the Bluefin Tuna populations at last count in September of 2017 were beginning to rebound.  While the author recognizes the threat to the Pacific Bluefin Tuna, she maintains that the population recovery is not only feasible but is already occurring in significant ways through the alliance of the countries. 

      Although Leschin-Hoar presents optimistic goals and data, her position is in the minority compared to the numerous scholarly articles that have been published that contend that catch sizes and quotas are not effectively addressing the extinction threat being caused by overfishing.   The majority of the research that I have done thus far on the peril of the Bluefin Tuna does not support a current recovery theory but rather generally refutes it and although I do not believe that the author has any secondary agenda regarding her research about the Bluefin Tuna, her position does contradict most conservationists and environmentalists.   However, it should be noted that Leschin-Hoar’s research does include interviews with respected conservationists.

     After researching this topic extensively, it is fair to say that the majority opinion from the conservation community is that the Bluefin Tuna species is threatened and that the Atlantic Bluefin Tuna, specifically, is endangered and could be destined for extinction.  If we want our children to live in a world with Bluefin Tuna, it is incumbent on us to implore the international community to enact stringent measures which will start to curtail the exploitation of this species by commercial fishermen.  Measures that need to be considered are stricter catch quotas, creel limits and banning the international trade of tuna species.  These restrictions need to impose severe penalties for violations to include hefty monetary fines and possible jail time for repeat violations.   In addition, all countries which have significant trade of the Bluefin Tuna must make a commitment to enforce these stricter regulations.  This could perhaps be realized through a consortium of these countries with the goal of replenishing the Bluefin stocks during the next ten to twenty years. 

     In closing, we as individuals can also take personal action to bring attention to this growing problem.   In 2016, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) attempted to have the Pacific Bluefin Tuna added to the Endangered Species Act which would have extended federal protection and restrictions to the species.  However, in August 2017, President Trump’s administration rejected the request to place the Bluefin on the protected list.  For those of us who are concerned about the uncertain future of the Bluefin,  we can take personal action and write letters to our representatives in Congress, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service to request that the Bluefin Tuna be given protected status and to ask that the United States take a leadership role among all nations in trying to pass tighter restrictions for fishing limits and trade.  These types of steps will be the beginning of a long and slow process in allowing the Atlantic and Pacific Bluefin Tuna species to gradually replenish their numbers so that they may again be plentiful in our oceans.  
