When JAPAN Calls For 50% Bluefin Tuna Quota Cuts, You Know The Species Is Fucked

[hatrack]

Tokyo, Japan - After several decades of reckless overfishing, mostly by Japanese fleets eager to satisfy their country's increasing demand for sushi and sashimi, stocks of bluefin tuna in the Pacific Ocean have declined alarmingly. Japan accounts for more than 70 percent of the Pacific bluefin tuna caught, according to the government's Fisheries Agency. As a consequence, the most recent stock assessment of Pacific bluefin tuna made by the International Scientific Committee for Tuna and Tuna-like Species in the North Pacific Ocean (ISC), noted that the population "level is near historically low levels and experiencing high exploitation rates".

The situation is so dire that Japan's Fisheries Agency felt compelled to announce in March it would cut the country's allowable haul of Pacific immature bluefin tuna by 50 percent in 2015. The agency followed this up by lobbying other countries fishing in the region to do likewise, and this month succeeded in obtaining their agreement.

During a conference of countries belonging to the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) that took place in Fukuoka, Japan, from September 1-4, the other major catchers of tuna - South Korea, Taiwan, Canada and the United States - promised to make the same deep cuts as Japan.

"People realised something had to be done about the level of catch," Glenn Hurry, executive director of the WCPFC, told Al Jazeera. "The biomass [of the bluefin tuna] that researchers are talking about is only three to four percent of the original spawning biomass, which is not a level you should commercially fish fisheries."

EDIT

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2014/09/japan-hopes-replenish-tuna-stocks-2014920999407676.html

[Scootaloo]

1. Who would have thought, large apex predators are slow to recover

[BrotherIvan]

2. Too many people

[Nihil]

4. Too many greedy, ignorant, selfish, superstitious and downright f*cking stupid people.

Not enough intelligent, caring, sensible people ... and the ratio gets worse every minute of
every day as the yeast keeps breeding ...

[BrotherIvan]

5. It's true that selfishness seems to be prevalent

But so is overconsumption even by the non-wealthy. But what I'm talking about is just a neutral equation. There are too many people, and people consume massive amounts of resources, more than any animal pound for pound.

I think the most pressing concern is to create 100% safe, effective, and pleasant to use birth control. Many have argued that supplying this will help women all over the world to lift themselves out of poverty because they will be able to plan their families, go to school if they choose, and be better able to feed their children. That is just another benefit to birth control. It is estimated in this country alone, 49% of pregnancies are unplanned. I am sure in countries where it is not available, that number is far higher. If we could solve this one issue, we might be able to get a hold of the out of control population which would have a domino effect in many areas. We just need to get over our religious nonsense.

[daleanime]

3. Kick....