Bluefin Breeding Population May Disappear By 2012: WWF Analysis

April 15, 2009

Release from: Kyodo News (Japan)

TOKYO — The breeding population in the Mediterranean and the East Atlantic of bluefin tuna, one of the most popular sushi items in Japan, has dropped sharply in the last decade and will disappear by 2012 if overfishing continues in those areas, the global conservation group WWF said Tuesday. The WWF issued the warning in an analysis released a day before what it calls the Mediterranean’s ‘‘bloated fishing fleets’’ ready themselves for the opening of the bluefin tuna fishing season. The group said it has ‘‘has no choice but to again urge the immediate closure of this fishery.’’

‘‘The population of breeding tunas has been declining steeply for the past decade—and will be wiped out completely in three years if fisheries managers and decision-makers keep ignoring the warnings from scientists that fishing must stop,’’ the WWF said. Given that tuna demand from Japan is high, the WWF called for the country’s consumers to take the situation seriously and try to avoid consuming tunas from the Mediterranean and East Atlantic.

The WWF also proposed putting bluefin tuna on a list of species covered by an international agreement aimed at ensuring that international trade in specimens of wild animals does not threaten their survival.