How sustainable is your tuna?

[Pseudonym]

Cows and sheep are easy to count. There's no danger of them becoming extinct. OK, there are a few environmental issues with them farting/burping/pooing en masse, but at least our beef and lamb supplies are safe.

Tuna is quite a different kettle of fish. (Sorry, couldn't resist)

So much does the world love eating tuna, we are hauling them out of the water faster than they can spawn, and several species are rapidly on their way to extinction.

And we bodybuilders load up at the supermarket with cans of the stuff! :oops:

Having done a spot of quick research this morning, it seems the good news is that canned tuna is likely to be skipjack tuna, which is slightly more resistant to over-fishing. But there are still other issues, such as the sharks and turtles that get killed in the harvesting process.

Anyway, if this interests you, The End of the Line is a documentary being screened at Auckland University (possibly a NZ premiere?) on Thursday 11 March.

The End of the Line is a powerful film about one of the world’s most disturbing problems – over-fishing. Advances in fishing technology mean whole species of wild fish are under threat and the most important stocks we eat are predicted to be in a state of collapse by 2050. The film points the finger at those most to blame, including celebrity chefs, and shows what we can do about it. This is not just a film, it is also a campaign – for sustainable consumption of fish, for marine protected areas to allow the sea to recover, and for a new ethic of responsible fishing.

Screening details here:

http://akunidive.com/wp-content/uploads ... e-Line.pdf

[greyghost]

Without detracting from the seriousness of the situation - I'm prepared to forgo ever eating tuna again. :puke:

Hope this doesn't happen to chickens.

[teamfatboy]

Nice post, Pseudo :clap:

Sustainability's a good question - and I've tended to hope, perhaps falsely, that economic realities alone mean that Atlantic-caught tuna's unlikely to be sold here.

I've also been under the impression that the way NZ manages its quotas in other fish is a world-leader... but I may be wrong about that.

Another thought provoking film in this vein is We Feed the World.

[steak]

Having been involved in the "fishing industry" both commercialy and recreationaly for decades I can safely say that there is not enough "fish counting" going on. Data is collected from catch history for most species and in the vast majority of cases this is not enough due to outside influences such as weather, seasonal cycles, breeding cycles, migratory patterns, disease, its logistically hard and the economic factors.

A couple of things are widely known about the global fishery though and its very easy to pick these up and run with them...

Global yellowfin, bluefin and albacore tuna stocks are being depleted at a rapid rate and I have noticed this here in NZ in our rec catch rate. Its big bizz and where there is big bizz there is big bucks ...need I say more :roll:

Bottom Trawling destoys seabeds and entire micro communities..no need to elaborate on this either huh

It is more cost effective to run huge factory trawlers than it is for fishing companies to support small local operations. It is also avantages for world governments to collect tax revenue from a groups of large companies than it is to chase hundreds of small operators..link this back to big bizz-big bucks if you like.

Catch reporting from foreign vessels is at best vague and on the hole is not corrrect (I can remember a case recently where there was a vessel that was supposed to have eg 35 tonnes of bracouta and it had 120 tons of a completely different species!) and the revenue from (lets use NZ as an example) goes offshore except for the quota lease return which is significantly less ,in most cases, to the value of the fish.....I could rabbit on all day if you like

From what I know, sadly the tuna stocks are under huge pressure and will be depleted fairly (in the great scheme of things) quickly and there aint jack your conservation groups can do about it. Its world goverments that need to instigate change. I dont see the Chinese government telling its kasquillion peeps to stop knoshing away on tuna in a hurry.

Hell! You cant even stop the Japs from knocking off 500 whales a year for research and Greenpeace has been banging on about that for years! There is little hope for the bigger species of palegics (midwater) fishes.

It sounds harsh and not at all tree huggy ...but enjoy your tuna while there is still some left.

[Beef]

Having been involved in the "fishing industry" both commercialy and recreationaly for decades I can safely say that there is not enough "fish counting" going on. Data is collected from catch history for most species and in the vast majority of cases this is not enough due to outside influences such as weather, seasonal cycles, breeding cycles, migratory patterns, disease, its logistically hard and the economic factors.

A couple of things are widely known about the global fishery though and its very easy to pick these up and run with them...

Global yellowfin, bluefin and albacore tuna stocks are being depleted at a rapid rate and I have noticed this here in NZ in our rec catch rate. Its big bizz and where there is big bizz there is big bucks ...need I say more :roll:

Bottom Trawling destoys seabeds and entire micro communities..no need to elaborate on this either huh

It is more cost effective to run huge factory trawlers than it is for fishing companies to support small local operations. It is also avantages for world governments to collect tax revenue from a groups of large companies than it is to chase hundreds of small operators..link this back to big bizz-big bucks if you like.

Catch reporting from foreign vessels is at best vague and on the hole is not corrrect (I can remember a case recently where there was a vessel that was supposed to have eg 35 tonnes of bracouta and it had 120 tons of a completely different species!) and the revenue from (lets use NZ as an example) goes offshore except for the quota lease return which is significantly less ,in most cases, to the value of the fish.....I could rabbit on all day if you like

From what I know, sadly the tuna stocks are under huge pressure and will be depleted fairly (in the great scheme of things) quickly and there aint jack your conservation groups can do about it. Its world goverments that need to instigate change. I dont see the Chinese government telling its kasquillion peeps to stop knoshing away on tuna in a hurry.

Hell! You cant even stop the Japs from knocking off 500 whales a year for research and Greenpeace has been banging on about that for years! There is little hope for the bigger species of palegics (midwater) fishes.

It sounds harsh and not at all tree huggy ...but enjoy your tuna while there is still some left.

good post steak. imagine how different our world would be if we weren't profit-driven

[Outkast]

Tunas not very nice anyway.. Salmon is where its at!

Mind you theyre probably getting ripped outta the water just as fast!

[PTinCHCH]

are we not smart enough or have the resources to farm tuna??

i taught this was already the case, must be mistaken...

[Pseudonym]

I've tended to hope, perhaps falsely, that economic realities alone mean that Atlantic-caught tuna's unlikely to be sold here.

Hah. I just opened my Home Brand salmon tonight with this topic in mind. Stamped on the tin was "USA - Wild Alaskan Salmon". It's a very small world. :roll:

sadly the tuna stocks are under huge pressure and will be depleted fairly (in the great scheme of things) quickly and there aint jack your conservation groups can do about it

Looks like the companies know it, too...

I'm definitely going to see this film on Thursday. Maybe I should be buying up tuna now, before I'm too guilt-ridden!

[Sakura]

Another thought provoking film in this vein is We Feed the World.

If this is the doco I'm thinking of, it's pretty scary.

Nestle owns the world. :shock:

[rose]

Dolphins =P~

[Beef]

saw end of the line today. pretty eye opening stuff :nod:

[haakuturi]

My bf did Marine Biology as part of his B.Sc/M.Sc and the figures are scary.

Of course, a lot of it's just guesswork but at least it's educated guessing

There's another documentary called Home by Yann Arthus-Bertrand and the segment on fishing/aquatics was just depressing.

For example:

http://www.un.org/apps/newsFr/storyF.as ... r=FAO&Cr1/

Has stuff like:

According to FAO, more than half of stocks of highly migratory sharks and 66% of straddling and high seas stocks are either overexploited or depleted, the report, including species such as hake, cod and halibut, orange roughy, basking shark and bluefin tuna.

The main conclusions are as follows:

- State of world stocks of marine fish:

52% stocks are fully exploited, which means they have reached, or are about to reach their maximum-balanced

20% are moderately exploited

17% are overexploited

7% poorer

3% are underexploited

1% is being reconstituted

Don't mind the not-perfect English - Google Translate FTW!

As much of a clean hippy as I am, I have to go with Steak's comment - enjoy it while it lasts!

[Pseudonym]

Yep, it was certainly an eye-opening doco. Well worth the watch if you can find it.

One estimate put fish stocks at just 10% of their unfished levels. The figures are highly debatable (best quote: "Counting fish is like counting trees, except you can't see them and they move.") but it really doesn't matter whether it's 10% or 50% left. It's a massive drop, and it's only happened in the last 50 years, since the development of industrial fishing.

Some of the numbers are incredibly disturbing.

In 2008, scientists recommended to the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas that quotas should be set at 15,000 tons of bluefin per year to stabilise the numbers. (Note, that's to stabilise - to regenerate the stock, the scientists figured the quota should be 10,000). But ICCAT ignoreed the science and set the limits at 29,000 tons. And the fishing industry? It hauled 61,000 tons anyway.

are we not smart enough or have the resources to farm tuna??

Don't know about tuna, but some salmon are certainly farmed. Apparently fish farming has its own problems though. Because while the salmon you eat may be farmed, the fish used to feed the salmon are still caught wild. So then they decimate the population of smaller fish further down the food chain, which then impacts the remaining wild salmon anyway. :doh: