Hugh Bollinger / Saturday, April 16, 2011

Tuna reprieve?

The destruction of bluefin tuna through over-exploitation by commercial fishing fleets has received past attention here at Riled Up. Estimates vary, but the harvest is way past any level of sustainability and ocean fisheries may be totally depleted within 15 years if harvest rates are allowed to continue at current levels. [caption id="attachment_3444" align="aligncenter" width="650" caption="blue fin tuna source: The Australian"]

[/caption] Two recent technological developments give pause to think that there may be a bit of a "tuna reprieve" in the making. The steps are tentative but hopeful. Recently, The Australian reported the successful results of a bluefin tuna breeding program that offers the potential for aquaculture production of this valuable migratory species. The world's first ever successful attempt to commercially breed the southern blue fin tuna has been demonstrated by Clean Seas Tuna in South Australia by overcoming a major hurdle in transferring tuna fingerlings into cages in the open sea. Much work still needs to be done on survival rates of transferred baby tuna, their growth rates, and proper nutritional feeds but if the early successes continue, one alternative to massive overfishing of wild tuna stocks will be commercially available in a few years. An additional technology that would reduce or eliminate the destructive practice of tuna bycatch drew the attention of the editors at the New York Times. In this case, the deceptively simple approach of changing the hook size on commercial fishing boats in the Gulf of Mexico would avoid catching bluefin accidentally. The new hooks are thinner than typically utilized and bend under the weight of a bluefin if it happens getting caught. Regulations for utilizing these new fishing tools will take effect in May 2011. This is particularly important as the Gulf of Mexico is the spawning grounds for the Atlantic bluefin and could eliminate the huge fish being caught by mistake. However, even with this technological improvement, environmental impact from residues of the recent oil spill are still a challenge for all the fisheries throughout the Gulf. Let's hope the combination of these two technologies will give a bit of a reprieve for bluefin tuna stocks. However, the best approach would be for a massive reduction in the level of fishing from current levels. That would assist the natural restoration of the tuna fisheries worldwide. WHB

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Tags: aquaculture blue fin tuna Clean Seas Tuna Gulf oil spill ocean fisheries overfishing The Australian

Tuna reprieve?

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