Fishing nations agreed on Saturday to a slim reduction in quotas for catching giant Atlantic bluefin tuna, whose stocks have plunged as fishermen strive to meet demand from sushi lovers. The quota set for 2011 is of 12,900 tones, down 600 from this year. An Atlantic bluefin can grow to the size of a horse and fetch as much as $100,000 in markets such as Japan, but stocks have plunged by more than 80 percent since 1970s according to Western scientists. "Greed and mismanagement have taken priority over sustainability and common sense" WWF said "This measly quota reduction is insufficient to ensure the recovery of bluefin tuna in the Mediterranean Sea". France, Italy, and Spain catch most of the Atlantic bluefin consumed in the world and 80% of the haul goes to Japan. Environmental groups lamented the cut as too little while the fishing industry said it was too much. I think this is a great step towards the recovery of the bluefin tuna but of course it is to be expected that the fishing industry would complain. Those greedy people cannot see into the future and how, what they are doing, is going to end with the fish in the sea. Let them keep fishing as much as they do right now and in 10-20 years let's watch them complain of how there is no more tuna to fish. But of course nobody wants to listen to the environmental groups now but in 20 years time people are gonna regret not hearing them out. Hopefully, other endangered fish will also get some sort of protection soon before they go extinct.
Link to site: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6AQ1HK20101127
No comments:
Post a Comment