Top 10 U.S. Endangered Species – Atlantic Bluefin Tuna

Our Environment’s Reality?

TOP 10 U.S. ENDANGERED SPECIES – ATLANTIC BLUEFIN TUNA

As the human population grows and the rich countries continue to consume resources at voracious rates, we are crowding out, poisoning and eating all other species into extinction.

Marine Fish provide 15 percent of all animal protein consumed by human beings. Fisheries management, however, has been outpaced by our population growth, causing global fisheries to collapse under the unsustainable pressure.

A 2009 assessment found that 80 percent of global fish stocks are either overly and fully exploited or have collapsed. Though a catch reduction of 20-50 percent is needed to make global fisheries sustainable, the demand for fish is expected to increase by 35 million tons by 2030.

Of greatest concern is the western Atlantic bluefin tuna that spawns in the Gulf of Mexico and has declined by more than 80 percent since 1970 due to overharvesting. Prized as a sushi fish around the world, it has become more valuable as it has become rare. One fish in 2011 sold for $396,000. The large, warm-blooded bluefin tuna is a common, upscale sushi menu item and has been severely overused. The Atlantic bluefin, like so many other ocean species, is threatened by human’s ravenous appetites: Demand far exceeds sustainable fishing levels.