Big Tuna In Trouble

Bluefin Tuna In Trouble

Bluefin Tuna are in trouble. Their numbers have been decreasing due to over-fishing. It's gotten to the point where Bluefin Tuna are in such demand that the price for them is high. Just this January, a Bluefin tuna sold for 1.76 million dollars in Tokyo. That's a ridiculous amount, but it's because Bluefin tuna are integrated in many meals like sushi. Primarily, Bluefin tuna are used in Japanese delicacies like sushi and Japan consumes 80% of bluefin caught around the world. The largest players that catch them are Japan, South Korea, Mexico, and the United States. 

Just this year, they recorded that more than 96% of Pacific Bluefin Tuna are in decline. It's been a few years that Bluefin tuna are endangered, but as time goes on and as they reach critical endangerment, fisheries and tuna lovers will face hard times. The Bluefin tuna are being caught at their juvenile stage, before they can even reproduce. It takes between 4-8 years for Bluefins to reach sexual maturity. "Stocks of all three bluefin species —the Pacific, Southern and Atlantic — have fallen over the past 15 years amid overfishing" 

Here's a long article by the National Geographic that might put this whole theme of "overfishing" into perspective.