From memory the southern blue fin tuna they have spawned are now fingerlings and are quite healthy.

They have been working closely with a Japanese University and if successful they will be able to support the worlds tuna demand

Fukkin-a brother,

Lazy/ignorant people who seem to think that all is right with the world… Just crazy. Please do a little research before you mouth off.. There are many animals have gone extinct in the past 100 years. Many more failing (due to us.) It will continue to happen without serious changes in human/idiot behavior.

the ingnorance of people amazes me,all of you who think we can continue to use every resource on this planet like the supply is endless,you are all fools.There may be no garuntee that there will or will not be and blue fin tuna left in 2012,thats not the point at all,the point is that it could happen,and eventually will

There have been good examples of how lower quota’s , sometimes zero quota’s, for small periods of time have helped replenish stock to a sustainable level.

In New Zealand the fishers have been known to self-imposed smaller quota’s to promote the ongoing sustainability of stock rahter than wipe it out and have no livelyhood in the future.

Food/sushi for thought?

The past few years these guys have effectively caught nothing – not a single fish. Yes, there are definitely fewer fish, but there are still massive blue fin schools to be found.

Yet – they’re just not being caught here as easily as they once were. Why?

It’s not necessarily because they’re not there, but because conditions have to be perfect for a tuna seiner to be able to successfully make a set. One main reason they’re catching fewer tuna is simply because they seem to be further out at sea. The Blue Fin’s food source has been fished out locally near shore, and so they follow the food, which is now much further from land. Tuna also have to be relatively close to the surface to catch. Spotter planes may criss cross the oceans for days without even seeing a school.

Once a group is found (of the right legal size) and swimming at the surface, the boat has to be able to get there. There’s a lot more ground to cover when the playing field includes open ocean and the boats aren’t the fastest. In addition, tuna like to school with whale sharks – not so good for the net and fisherman hate bycatch.

So, it isn’t the actual New England commercial fisherman who are depleting the stocks. Hell, they can’t make a living anymore. If anyone in the U.S. can be blamed I would be more content to point a finger at the sports fisherman or weekend guys who go out, kill their quota (three I think) and come in. They make quite a bit of money doing this and often follow the commercial guy’s sighting planes to find out where the schools are. Then, all the small sport boat has to do is get in the way. A commercial boat cannot legally make a set if there is am smaller boat within X number of feet.

As for the sports fisherman, there are hundreds of them. So if one actual seiner catches 350 fish in one entire season and in one weekend 350 sports fisherman meet their quota of three tuna each, the sports fisherman have already done more damage.

Those who blindly bark about commercial fishing generally have no idea what is going on, and while the sports guys may do more damage – it’s nothing at all compared to what happens to the tuna school when it heads further east to the Meditteraneran.

This country has actually done quite a bit to sustain tuna populations – but they’re a global species in that they migrate all over the world. Unless other countries are willing to do their part, Blue Fin will die. Some countries are trying. Others have strict legislation but no enforcement. Other countries don’t have the power to effectively police the waters and the land. Some countries are set in their ways – they fish with hand held nets and the entire village relies on the once a year kill…there are a lot of factors.

It’s going to take a global effort and like many of the people posting here have said, it’s the fisherman who are heading the conservation campaigns – don’t chastise the ones who do more for the effort than a majority of those who gripe and complain yet do nothing.

If you want to help, contact the fisheries. Let them know you want environmental global action. Educate yourself about the situation. Write a letter. Eat some yellow fin instead. Stop eating the tuna’s food (schooling fish like herring and sardines). Just be productive instead of making the problem worse by effectively doing nothing and blaming the wrong people.

I don’t eat tuna. I don’t eat sushi. I am not a fisherman. I am not connected to tuna in anyway except that I know they are a keystone species. Instead of pointing fingers and arguing with others about the topics, I’ve chosen action. Contact ICAAT and request global action. Contact the UN and do the same. Those who fish from our country aren’t making a dent in the populations because there are already strict quotas in place. Demand that other countries do the same.

http://www.gpa.unep.org/content.html?id=180&ln=6

http://www.iccat.int/en/

Rick: You are really, really stoooopid. (really) I mean it. Cattle, Chicken and pigs are DOMESTIC animals that are bred and raised by the millions. Tuna are wild animals. Over fishing has decimated (sorry Rick, a big word) many species of fish but tuna are the most highly prized, and as predators, their population is limited compared to their food sources.

Curley: 99% of all life that has ever lived on this planet is now extinct. For one reason or another “fate” has let this happen.”

Curley: Are you some kinda tuna industry hack? As a geologist, I can verify that yes, 99% of all species have gone extinct over the last 400 (that’s FOUR HUNDRED MILLION YEARS, dumb ass.) “Fate” has nothing to do with the possible extinction of the bluefin tuna. Greedy humanity has everything to do with it. Lot’s of other fish are in trouble too due to over fishing, like the Cod, here in New England. Why are you hiding your head in the sand?

crowxtzr: The picture is REAL. It’s of the main fish market in Tokyo. The tuna carcasses are frozen before they are auctioned off. Don’t let your ignorance get in the way of your learning.

I am not a member of the WWF or a pitchman for their point-of view. I don’t have any information as to the bluefins about to go extinct, I’m just commenting on the foolish posts I’ve seen here.

crowxtzr, WWF is the World Wildlife Federation. Their name is copyrighted, which is why the World Wrestling Federation suddenly changed its name a few years ago.

I agree with some of the posts, that the Japanese whaling fleets aren’t doing any scientific research,
and I suspect that they won’t do anything about this
issue either.

And I am going to laugh and laugh.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passenger_Pigeon

That’s the sad thing. Of all the varieties of tuna, blue fin is pretty much the champion of the species. They taste the best.

RT
http://www.privacy.pro.tc

Yes, just like most pedophiles would support schools. Motive counts, especially when, like conservations hunters, your actions go completely opposite your stated interest.”

-Actually, hunters ARE some of the best conservationists, because they understand BALANCE, unlike you stupid unrealistic tree hugging WWF morons. I live in the states, and if hunters didn’t drastically reduce the deer population every fall, we would be in severe trouble. Human fatalities from car wrecks aside, they would eat themselves into extinction. thats right, they don’t know how to stop eating so they just keep on till they all starve. Oh, and my friends would starve to, because they eat everything they kill, just like the precious animals you so lovingly defend. Balance, not hippie bullshit that places humans lower on the totem pole than fungus will get us through.
And as far as the fishing problem? Yeah, over fishing is a serious issue, but not one that can’t be fixed with some common sense. Let the ocean breath a little, no one benefits from an empty puddle. But the WWF has been so far off on there predictions in the past, I have a hard time believing them anymore. The hippies who cried tuna. You can’t keep screaming at the top of your lungs and expect us to hear you after a point.
So my point is screw you self righteous hippies for condemning humans for behavior that is distinctly “life on earth”-ish(hunting other creatures for food is NOT inherently wrong and if it is then someone forgot to tell 99% of sentient life on this rock), and screw the greedy bastards who have no sense of balance in the extreme opposite(seasons, bitches, seasons! No eco system or species can withstand relentless hunting forever).
You extremists(in BOTH directions) will be death of us all, mark my words. Humans can’t decide if we have the God given right to plunder the whole world, or if we should be killing off worthless excess human vermin for merely existing(which is where this all seems to be leading). Both sides are wrong, and both will lead to destruction. Not being an alarmist, just saying. Weather you worship or condemn human life and it’s place in this world, you are not seeing things clearly at all, for humans deserve neither worship nor condemnation. We deserve a chance.
Oh well, it’s all probably a grand prison planet conspiracy anyway…

Fish in international waters will be and always have been a “tragedy of the commons”. Go read, find out what that means .. government cannot resolve that problem .. it can only make it worse.

Or, we could all follow Pol Pot’s example (what the WWF wants) and live a life of subsistence farming.

Yes, just like most pedophiles would support schools. Motive counts, especially when, like conservations hunters, your actions go completely opposite your stated interest.

there are 6 types