bluefin tuna – Southern Fried Science

Red tide, whale poop, and vanishing puffins: Thursday Afternoon Dredging, August 30th, 2018

August 30, 2018 David Shiffman

Uncategorized

Cuttings (short and sweet): Follow the official account of the US Sawfish Recovery Team on twitter! The harmful algal blooms in Florida, explained. From the Ocean Conservancy blog. This environmental news story has resulted in not only heartbreak, but confusion. This explainer post by Ocean Conservancy experts answers many of the questions that folks have … Read More “Red tide, whale poop, and vanishing puffins: Thursday Afternoon Dredging, August 30th, 2018” »

Fish feel pain, mining feels the pressure, sea lions feel excluded, and science publishing feels like an old boys club. It’s the Monday Morning Salvage: January 8, 2018!

January 8, 2018January 7, 2018 Andrew Thaler

Weekly Salvage

Fog Horn (A Call to Action)

Abstract submission open for the 2018 International Marine Conservation Congress in Kuching, Sarawak this summer! Get your abstracts in early!

Flotsam (what we’re obsessed with right now)

This is a pretty big deal: The Year Climate Change Began to Spin Out of Control. The loop is closing fast and if we don’t break the cycle, things will get much worse much faster.

Jetsam (what we’re enjoying from around the web)

Fish Feel Pain. Now What? New research raises big questions about humane treatment of sea life.
The final first-of-year Bluefin Tuna auction at the Tsukiji Fish Market marks the end of an era. It sold for $323,000, far below historic highs.

https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2018/01/7d362d3cdd9b-tsukiji-fish-market-holds-final-new-year-auction.html

The era of the million-dollar tuna is over.

January 5, 2015January 5, 2015 Andrew Thaler

Conservation, Science

For the last several years, we’ve been following the first-of-the-year Tsukiji Tuna Auction. In the past, this auction has served as a (often questionable) benchmark for the demand for Bluefin Tuna. At its peak, the price of Bluefin Tuna broke the scales at nearly $1,800,000. As the price continued to inflate, last year we even released an early warning to journalists covering the auction, cautioning them against drawing too many conclusions about the expectedly massive auction price. We we’re all caught off guard when the price of the first fish barely topped $70,000 dollars, kilo-for-kilo not even the most expensive fish sold that day.

Today, the numbers are in, and the first Bluefin of the year sold for a measly $37,500, barely enough to cover the cost to fuel for a fishing boat.

The era of the million-dollar tuna is over.

An open challenge to journalists covering next week’s Bluefin Tuna Auction

December 29, 2013 Andrew Thaler 3 Comments

Conservation

Every year, on the first Saturday of January, crowds gather at the Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo to watch the auction of the first Bluefin Tuna of the year. For the last three years, the legendary first tuna broke the record for most expensive fish ever purchased — $396,000 in 2011, $736,000 in 2012, and a staggering $1,800,000 in 2013. Often highlighted as a symbol of the extent people are willing to go to eat that last bluefin tuna, the annual sale of this fish sets the tone for tuna conservation. With the relocation of the Tsukiji fish market to Toyosu in 2014, next week’s auction promises to be the biggest one yet.

Southern Bluefin Tuna are critically endangered, yet political maneuvering has kept tuna fisheries open and several Pacific nations have been caught falsifying their catch reports. Even still, the massive sale of the first tuna of the year is not indicative of the real demand for Bluefin Tuna.

Bluefin Tuna, Big Game Hunters, and the Conservation Vortex

November 29, 2011December 9, 2011 Andrew Thaler 4 Comments

Conservation, Science

Why are we still killing Bluefin Tuna? This question has resonated through the ocean blogosphere recently, as various experts weigh the issues surrounding overfishing and wonder why, when we know how limited the Bluefin Tuna populations are, and how precipitously they’ve declined in the last decade, do they demand record-breaking prices able to support an industry that must range further afield to chase that last, lonely fish? Other conservation writers discuss the recent extinction of not one, but two, rhinoceros species and ponder the fate of large terrestrial mammals. Knowing how rare these rhinoceroses were, why did they continue to be poached? Where does this demand come from?

New research lists tuna species as threatened; will fisheries managers act?

July 14, 2011July 14, 2011 David Shiffman 2 Comments

Conservation, Science

atlantic_bluefin_tuna_thunnus_thynnus_oceana_keith_ellenbogen_37339 — Image courtesy Keith Ellenbogen, OCEANA

Bluefin tuna have become a posterchild for the marine conservation movement. A single bluefin can sell for tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars, which results in heavy fishing pressure. Conservationists and fisheries scientists have tried for years to get the fishing quota reduced. They tried to get CITES protection for the bluefin. Citing both heavy fishing pressure and the fact that the oil spill occurred in bluefin spawning grounds in the Gulf, some recently tried to get these animals protected under the Endangered Species Act. To date, these efforts have fallen short, resulting in just a modest quota reduction at ICCAT. New research, however, shows just how important protecting this group of fishes is.

Weekly dose of TED – Barbara Block: Tagging tuna in the deep ocean

February 4, 2011February 4, 2011 Andrew Thaler 1 Comment

Uncategorized

Tuna are rather magnificent fish. Do you still eat tuna? Why or why not? Do you draw a line at different species?

Might as well eat ’em: A semi-serious April Fool’s Day ethical debate

April 1, 2010April 4, 2010 David Shiffman 38 Comments

Conservation

Bluefin tuna are some of the most endangered fish in the sea. Prized by the sushi industry for their delicious flavor, populations of bluefin have declined precipitously in recent decades.

They also may be the first species of fish to be driven to extinction by commercial fishing. Normally, when populations of fish get low, it isn’t profitable to fish for them anymore- thus they are not driven to extinction. However, a single bluefin tuna can sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars, so it is still profitable to fish for the last one.

CITES update: Bluefin and crocodiles and polar bears? Oh my!

March 18, 2010April 4, 2010 David Shiffman

Conservation, Science

The latest news out of CITES isn’t encouraging. Marie Levine, President of the Shark Research Institute, is attending and made the following statement: “Animals did not fare well at CITES today. The USA’s bid to have the polar bear uplisted from Appendix II to Appendix I was defeated, as was Egypt’s attempt to have the … Read More “CITES update: Bluefin and crocodiles and polar bears? Oh my!” »