AFRICA: With everyone desire for sushi since it was introduced as an international food, experts are scared that it would be causing the pacific bluefin tuna’s loss in the near future. The pacific bluefin tuna has been added on the list of in danger species and is in the brink of possible loss. Unluckily bluefin tunas that are creature caught for use are still young and never had the chance to produce. According to IUCN Director General Julia Marton-Lewis,we have scientific evidence that protected areas can play a vital role in reversing the trend.
She added, “Experts warn that threatened species poorly represented in protected areas are declining twice as fast as those which are well represented. Our responsibility is to increase the number of protected areas and ensure that they are effectively managed so that they can contribute to saving our planet’s biodiversity.”
Based on the information from Science Recorder, “So far, the list includes 76,199 species – 22,143 of them are threatened with extinction. The Pacific Bluefin is just one species caught for Japanese fish markets. The Atlantic bluefin was also hunted intensively until the IUCN set conversational quotas to be managed internationally, rather than ban the fish, which the Japanese government argued would harm the economy of poorer nations.”
Paulus Tak, a senior officer from Pew Charitable Trusts, a conservation group that monitors tuna populations, said that enforcement of illegal fishing operations could be more effective than raising quotas to sustain the Bluefin tuna population.
Tak quoted, “Instead of continuing progress toward adopting precautionary, science-based catch limits in some of these fisheries, member countries put in place very risky quotas that could lead to declines in Bluefin populations.” He further added that, “Despite the last few years of progress from ICCAT countries, the decisions this year have shown that this Commission is not accounting for critical vulnerabilities highlighted by science.”
