Bluefin tuna ban? Japanese sushi chefs likely to cry.....

A few months back I posted about the apparent failure for European countries to come to any real agreement on addressing the rapidly dwindling (perhaps to soon extinction) blue fin tuna populations of the Mediterranean.

Fished aggressively and largely for the Japan sushi market (supposedly the destination for 80% of the catch which prizes the fatty belly meat), things looked grim last fall as no one (Italy, France, and Spain included) was willing to put even a temporary ban on fishing these creatures in hopes of letting the population rebound.

Now Prince Albert of Monaco (click to see this dashing fellow) is leading the charge, and apparently with some success with moving toward a ban in the near future, as the New York Times reports. Of course the fishing industry is not happy, not even the US industry since bluefin is also found in the Atlantic:

The United States fishing industry is “strongly opposed” to listing the fish under the endangered species convention, said Rich Ruais, executive director of the American Bluefin Tuna Association, who said the trade ban “would create a huge black market.”

“In fact,” he said, “we believe a listing has the possibility of doing more damage than good.”

Which all begs the question of economics. But also the willingness for the fish industry to actually enforce itself.

Of course the question of what sustainable fishing and sustainable fish eating is at the enter of it all. The site Sustainable Sushi is a nice place to explore some of these issues...

AY