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How can it be that more bluefin tuna are sold than reported caught each year? On its face, this seems an impossibility. What it strongly indicates is that fishermen are being dishonest about their catches. Bluefin tuna is a critically endangered fish, but since it brings very high prices on the market, it's relentlessly hunted. The World Wildlife Fund and some other environmental groups had predicted that the fish would be extinct by now. Though it’s not yet, marine scientists are slated to reassess the health of the bluefin population in 2012.

The bluefin is a fish that can grow up to 10-feet long and weigh more than one thousand pounds. Dark blue or black above, and silver white below, the fish lives near the surface of the ocean. Younger fish live in warm waters, while adults prefer their environs colder. Because it swims in cold waters, it’s a fatty fish and is prized for sushi and sashimi.

Bluefin tuna live in the eastern and western Atlantic, and the Mediterranean. The western population has seen a drastic decline in its spawning stock biomass between the 1970s and the 1990s, and though the numbers have recovered somewhat since then, the bluefin is still overfished.

Most commercial and sport fishermen catch the fish with hand gear like rod and reel, or harpoons. Bluefin is also caught in purse seines and longlines, a line fitted with hooks that might be 20 miles long or longer. The use of longlines to specifically catch bluefin is forbidden by regulations. Still, there's a loophole that allows bluefin to be caught accidentally by a longline that’s being used to catch other fish. These bluefin might go unreported, which could contribute to more of them being sold than officially caught.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has decreed that fishermen using longlines in the Gulf of Mexico must use weak hooks to reduce the accidental catch of bluefin. Weak hooks are those made of thin wire. They’re round, but straighten out when a larger fish gets caught by them. Consequently these larger fish can get free of them.

The problem with regulating the fishing of bluefin tuna is that the fish migrate over such long distances that conservation is dependent on international and domestic cooperation. The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) sets quotas for how many bluefin tuna can be taken on a country-by-country basis. In 1998 ICCAT limited the catch for the western population to 2,500 metric tons. As of 2011 and 2012, the number had gone down to 1,750 metric tons. The western population is fished by the United States, Canada and Japan, and their compliance is said to be strong. Compliance for fishing the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean populations has been weaker, but it is slowly growing, according to NOAA.

The consequences of bluefin tuna going extinct are dire. The bluefin is a top predator and if it disappears, its prey—like squid and smaller fish—can become imbalanced. Moreover, the bluefin is eaten by sharks and killer whales, so its disappearance might have a detrimental effect on their populations. This is especially worrisome for sharks, since they are endangered. With all of this in mind, strengthening compliance with NOAA guidelines is imperative for the sakes of our oceans and the continued existence of the bluefin tuna.
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The guest writer is Emily Matthews, who is currently applying to masters degree programs across the US. Emily loves to read about new research into healthcare, gender issues and literature. She lives and writes for MastersDegree.net in Seattle, Washington.

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