seemslikeadream
05-20-2009, 12:06 PM
http://www.montrealgazette.com/Life/Bluefin+tuna+extinct+years+says/1497864/story.html
Overfishing will wipe out the breeding population of Atlantic bluefin tuna, one of the ocean's largest and fastest predators, in three years unless catches are dramatically reduced, conservation group WWF said yesterday.
As European fishing fleets prepare to begin the two-month Mediterranean fishing season today, WWF said its analysis showed the bluefin tuna that spawn - those aged 4 years and older - will have disappeared by 2012 at current rates.
"For years people have been asking when the collapse of this fishery will happen, and now we have the answer," said Sergi Tudela, head of fisheries at WWF Mediterranean.
The fish, which can weigh over half a tonne and accelerate faster than a sports car, are a favourite of sushi lovers. Demand from Japan has triggered an explosion in the size of the Mediterranean fleet over the past decade and many of those boats use illegal spotter planes to track the warm-blooded tuna.
Overfishing will wipe out the breeding population of Atlantic bluefin tuna, one of the ocean's largest and fastest predators, in three years unless catches are dramatically reduced, conservation group WWF said yesterday.
As European fishing fleets prepare to begin the two-month Mediterranean fishing season today, WWF said its analysis showed the bluefin tuna that spawn - those aged 4 years and older - will have disappeared by 2012 at current rates.
"For years people have been asking when the collapse of this fishery will happen, and now we have the answer," said Sergi Tudela, head of fisheries at WWF Mediterranean.
The fish, which can weigh over half a tonne and accelerate faster than a sports car, are a favourite of sushi lovers. Demand from Japan has triggered an explosion in the size of the Mediterranean fleet over the past decade and many of those boats use illegal spotter planes to track the warm-blooded tuna.