This book reviews and evaluates the scientific basis of U.S. management of fisheries for Atlantic bluefin tuna. In particular, it focuses on the issues of stock structure and stock assessments used by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Marine Fisheries Service for management under the International Convention for the conservation of Atlantic Tunas.
Historically, whenever tuna was hauled ashore, the sounds of battle were never far away. ‘Tuna Wars’ tells the untold story of the power struggles emerging around tuna, from the distant past to your present-day dinner table. In the ancient past, the giant tuna was the first fish to become the basis of a large-scale industry and a ‘global’ trade that created fortunes: Hannibal was able to finance his elephant campaign on Rome thanks to tuna. From the Middle Ages on, a tuna fishing monopoly on Spain’s southern coast allowed the nobility to completely dominate the area and even lead the ‘invincible’ Armada. When the markets for tuna increased exponentially thanks to technical advances, tuna eventually became a billion-dollar business and one of the most-consumed fish species worldwide. But this massive expansion came at a price. An 18th century monk in Madrid was the first to warn that tuna fisheries needed to be run sustainably for the sake of future generations. And the issue of sustainability would go on to become a game-changer in the modern tuna wars, characterized by new alliances and partnerships, hybrid warfare and commercial power struggles. In addition to accompanying you through the history of tuna and sharing insights into fisheries science and approaches to sustainably managing fisheries, Tuna Wars offers practical guidance on choosing sustainably fished tuna. In short, it will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about tuna, but were afraid to ask.
The most thorough and current account of scientific research on bluefin tunas—the largest, most sought-after tunas in the world Bluefin tunas are dominant keystone predators known for their impressive size, strength, endurance, and speed. Electronic tags have revealed that they can dive to great depths (over 6000 feet) and migrate vast distances—from frigid subpolar seas to warm tropical waters—for spawning. Prized for their rich taste and unique texture, bluefin tunas are also a worldwide commodity of great value. However, over the past few decades, overfishing throughout their range has led to significant population reductions. In The Future of Bluefin Tunas, Barbara A. Block brings together renowned bluefin experts from 15 different countries to share the latest information on the science, fisheries policy, and management decisions related to each of the three species within the Thunnus group—Atlantic, Pacific, and Southern. Synthesizing basic and applied research, the book delves into every aspect of these majestic fish, from their life history and genetic makeup to their ecology and migrations. Ichthyologists and marine scientists dedicated to the study of these fishes report on the latest stock assessments, explore the results of advances such as biologging and DNA sampling, and assess the potential of bluefin tuna aquaculture. The Future of Bluefin Tunas provides critical research findings to inform decisions that will impact tunas and the ocean ecosystems they affect. Scientists, fisheries managers, policymakers, and marine conservationists will take away key data from this timely volume to help them ensure these remarkable fish continue in perpetuity.
Advances in Tuna Aquaculture: From Hatchery to Market provides detailed overviews on the current status of tuna fisheries, fattening, and farming practices, as well as advances in closed-cycle tuna aquaculture. Contributors are renowned scientists, internationally recognized as authorities in their fields. This book addresses all basic and applied aspects of tuna aquaculture, presenting and discussing the global status of tuna fisheries, reproduction, broodstock management, spawning, larval rearing and early developmental stages including nursery and grow out methods. It presents incorporates the most comprehensive and updated data, statistics, and trends in tuna fisheries and aquaculture, covering and addresses a variety of topics ranging fromfrom endocrinology, nutrition, diseases, and genetics to economics and markets. It covers describes recent up-to-date progress on tuna aquaculture and hatchery development. It also provides a synopsisn overview of the challenges presently confronted by tuna aquaculturists,facing tuna aquaculture and and offers innovative views on the challengesbottle-neck issues faced by the industry with the current shift from fisheries to fattening to closed-cycle aquaculture. This is the first book to encompass all aspects related to the tuna aquaculture industry, and merges them into a state-of-the-art compendium that will serve as seminal reference for students, researchers, and professionals working with tuna biology, fisheries, and aquaculture worldwide. - Incorporates and reviews the most recent information on tuna fisheries and aquaculture - Presents the most innovative production technologies in tuna aquaculture, from hatchery to market - Includes important information on tuna, derived from industry experience and academic research on larval rearing technology and grow out operations - Encompasses and discusses key topics such as genetics, diseases, nutrition, endocrinology, and reproduction, as well as developments, challenges, and future opportunities in tuna aquaculture - Provides the latest scientific methods and technologies to maximize efficiencies and production - Presents the independent and collective assessments, viewpoints, and visions of various scientists, all internationally recognized as authorities in the field
“A necessary book for anyone truly interested in what we take from the sea to eat, and how, and why.” —Sam Sifton, The New York Times Book Review Acclaimed author of American Catch and The Omega Princple and life-long fisherman, Paul Greenberg takes us on a journey, examining the four fish that dominate our menus: salmon, sea bass, cod, and tuna. Investigating the forces that get fish to our dinner tables, Greenberg reveals our damaged relationship with the ocean and its inhabitants. Just three decades ago, nearly everything we ate from the sea was wild. Today, rampant overfishing and an unprecedented biotech revolution have brought us to a point where wild and farmed fish occupy equal parts of a complex marketplace. Four Fish offers a way for us to move toward a future in which healthy and sustainable seafood is the rule rather than the exception.
This open access book is an original contribution to the knowledge on fishing and research associated with one of the most enigmatic fish of our seas: bluefin tuna, Thunnus thynnus (L.). Based on available evidence, it reconstructs the possible methods used to catch large spawners in the Strait of Gibraltar thousands of years ago and describes the much more recent overfishing that led to a great reduction in the catches of the trap fishery on the area and the disappearance of the northern European fisheries. It is the first book to relate the overfishing of juvenile fishes in certain areas to the decline of large spawners in other very distant areas, revealing one of the main underlying causes of this decline, which has remained a mystery to the fishing sector and scientists alike for over 50 years. This finding should serve to prevent similar cases from arising in the future.
Illuminating the conditions for global governance to have precipitated the devastating decline of one of the ocean’s most majestic creatures The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) is the world’s foremost organization for managing and conserving tunas, seabirds, turtles, and sharks traversing international waters. Founded by treaty in 1969, ICCAT stewards what has become under its tenure one of the planet’s most prominent endangered fish: the Atlantic bluefin tuna. Called “red gold” by industry insiders for the exorbitant price her ruby-colored flesh commands in the sushi economy, the giant bluefin tuna has crashed in size and number under ICCAT’s custodianship. With regulations to conserve these sea creatures in place for half a century, why have so many big bluefin tuna vanished from the Atlantic? In Red Gold, Jennifer E. Telesca offers unparalleled access to ICCAT to show that the institution has faithfully executed the task assigned it by international law: to fish as hard as possible to grow national economies. ICCAT manages the bluefin not to protect them but to secure export markets for commodity empires—and, as a result, has become complicit in their extermination. The decades of regulating fish as commodities have had disastrous consequences. Amid the mass extinction of all kinds of life today, Red Gold reacquaints the reader with the splendors of the giant bluefin tuna through vignettes that defy technoscientific and market rationales. Ultimately, this book shows, changing the way people value marine life must come not only from reforming ICCAT but from transforming the dominant culture that consents to this slaughter.
