It’s widely acknowledged that stocks of Pacific bluefin tuna are in a dire state, but now new analysis reveals the population may be in worse trouble than was first thought.
Pew Charitable Trusts warns that recent analysis conducted by Japan’s National Research Institute of Far Seas Fisheries provides further evidence that stocks could fall to their lowest levels ever recorded, despite claims to the contrary.
Amanda Nickson, who directs the global tuna conservation programme for The Pew Charitable Trusts, wrote that the new analysis reveals that the size of the bluefin stock will continue to decline through 2018, even with full implementation of existing conservation measures.
She said: “Pacific bluefin tuna is important to many people, so it’s easy to understand why some would be eager to grasp any sign of a potential recovery. However, the science tells us otherwise.”
“The population is still far from the beginning of recovery and is in urgent need of further protections. Strong, long-term management measures must be enacted based on that science if there is to be any future for this important species.”
The results of this latest analysis have been included in the latest report of the International Scientific Committee for Tuna and Tuna-like Species in the North Pacific Ocean, the group of scientists who produce assessments for the species.
The most recent stock assessment, done in 2014, put the Pacific bluefin population at just 4% of historic unfished levels.
