The Pacific Bluefin Tuna: A Conservation Success Story
Today's episode of the How to Protect the Ocean podcast celebrates a conservation success story focusing on the Pacific bluefin tuna. Thanks to an international effort, the species has rebounded from the brink of extinction, with a recent stock...
Today's episode of the How to Protect the Ocean podcast celebrates a conservation success story focusing on the Pacific bluefin tuna. Thanks to an international effort, the species has rebounded from the brink of extinction, with a recent stock assessment showing a significant increase in the number of reproductive females. Host Andrew Lewin dives into what led to this success, highlighting the importance of effective management and quick action. Join the discussion on this remarkable turnaround and learn how collective efforts can make a positive impact on marine conservation.
Link to articles:
1) https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/pacific-bluefin-tuna-decade-long-conservation-success-jamie-gibbon-1nxgf/?trackingId=8wx3X8huMkgmyeL7LAal%2Bg%3D%3D
2) https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/feature-story/overfished-sustainable-harvests-pacific-bluefin-tuna-rebound-new-highs
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The Pacific bluefin tuna population has seen a significant increase in the number of female tuna capable of reproductive success, indicating a successful conservation effort. The recent stock assessment revealed a substantial rise in the population of female Pacific bluefin tuna able to reproduce, showing that international efforts to protect and manage the species have been effective in reversing the decline and promoting population growth.
This success story highlights the severe threats faced by the Pacific bluefin tuna population due to overfishing, with the stock plummeting by over 96% from its historic high. Despite these challenges, there has been a notable turnaround in the population status, particularly in increasing the number of reproductive females, a crucial milestone in the conservation of this species.
The conservation success of the Pacific bluefin tuna demonstrates that with dedicated efforts and effective management strategies, it is possible to reverse the decline of marine species and promote their recovery. The increase in the number of reproductive females is a positive sign for the future sustainability of the Pacific bluefin tuna population.
The significant rise in the number of female Pacific bluefin tuna capable of reproductive success showcases the effectiveness of conservation efforts and emphasizes the importance of continued collaboration and conservation measures to ensure the long-term survival of this iconic species.
The overfishing of Pacific bluefin tuna had devastating consequences, leading to a staggering 96% drop in population from its historic high. This drastic decline highlighted the urgent need for immediate and effective conservation measures to prevent the species from facing extinction. The episode discusses how a scientific report in 2012 revealed the alarming state of the Pacific bluefin tuna population, emphasizing the severe impact of overfishing on the species.
The significant decrease in the Pacific bluefin tuna population served as a wake-up call, indicating that urgent action was required to reverse the trend of depletion. The episode mentions how the exploitation of these large and valuable fish for commercial purposes, such as the celebratory auction where a Japanese sushi chain purchased a bluefin tuna for $1.7 million, demonstrated how financial interests often outweighed conservation concerns.
The episode also touches upon the slow growth and long lifespan of tuna species, making their recovery a lengthy and challenging process. The conservation success story of the Pacific bluefin tuna serves as a beacon of hope, showcasing that with coordinated international efforts and effective management strategies, it is possible to reverse the decline of overexploited marine species. This success story underscores the importance of implementing sustainable fishing practices and conservation measures to protect vulnerable marine species like the Pacific bluefin tuna.
The episode highlights the exploitation of endangered tuna species by corporations for profit, noting how the value of individual tuna species can increase as they become more endangered. This phenomenon occurs because the scarcity of a species drives up its market value, making each individual catch more lucrative for those involved in the fishing industry.
In the case of the Pacific bluefin tuna, despite facing a significant decline in population due to overfishing, there were instances where a Japanese sushi chain purchased a bluefin tuna for a staggering $1.7 million in a celebratory auction. This exorbitant price tag demonstrates how the demand for these endangered species can lead to inflated prices, creating a financial incentive for exploitation.
Furthermore, the episode mentions a common practice where corporations catch endangered tuna species, freeze them for extended periods, and then sell them at a higher price when the species is on the brink of extinction. This strategy essentially turns the exploitation of endangered species into an investment opportunity for these corporations, prioritizing short-term profits over the long-term sustainability of marine ecosystems.
The documentary "End of the Line," referenced in the episode, provides further insight into the exploitation of tuna species for profit. It delves into the practices of the tuna industry in various regions, shedding light on the detrimental impact of overfishing and the commodification of endangered species.
Overall, the episode underscores the alarming trend where the increasing rarity of certain tuna species can paradoxically drive their commercial value up, leading to their exploitation by corporations solely for financial gain. This highlights the urgent need for robust conservation measures and sustainable fishing practices to protect these vulnerable marine species from further exploitation and potential extinction.
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I am so happy that you tuned into this episode because it's not
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every day that I get to talk about a
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conservation success story. There have been many conservation success
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stories over the period of marine conservation. However,
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it's not often that we get these wins and today we're going to be talking about
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the pacific bluefin tuna because there's been a
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huge international coordinated effort to bring the species
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back from the brink of extinction to something that
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could actually be seen as a population that is growing and we've actually
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hit that day there's been a recent stock assessment that shows that
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there's been a huge increase in the number of female Pacific
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bluefin tuna that can have reproductive success, and
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it shows that we can actually turn a lot of
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tuna species around from bad management in
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the past very quickly. In fact, 10 years earlier than
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we expected for this Pacific bluefin tuna. talk about this
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conservation success story, what happened, why it became such
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a story, and what happened really to understand that, hey,
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this species was in trouble. We're gonna talk about that on
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today's episode of the How to Protect the Ocean podcast. Let's start the
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show. Hey
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everybody, welcome back to another exciting episode of the How to Protect the Ocean podcast. I'm
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your host Andrew Lewin and this is the podcast where you find out what's happening with the ocean,
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how you can speak up for the ocean, what you can do to live for a better ocean
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by taking action. And today we're going to be talking about that action taking
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by government and by a number of governments, international governments.
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Now, when we talk about the Pacific tuna, the bluefin tuna,
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we talk about a species that goes across borders. This
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is not a species that just understands that there are
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U.S., Canadian, and international borders. They stay within those national
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boundaries so that they can get better protected. No, no, no, no. This is
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a species that goes, it starts off in the Sea of Japan. all
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the way in between japan and the philippines where they're where they're bred and they're
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born and then they come over to like the baja
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california mexico area and then they go back after
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a year and where they feed and stuff and go back for six
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six thousand mile trek across the pacific and
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they do it in like 55 days because they're incredible swimmers And
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it's great to see a species like this that
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is highly sought after for food rebound the
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way it has. And that's what we're going to be talking about today. It's going to be the focus. Because
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I came across this article on LinkedIn. I'm very active on
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LinkedIn. So if you ever want to hit me up on LinkedIn, please do so. I
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came across this article. It's a LinkedIn article by
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Jamie Gibbon, who is a manager of international fisheries
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at the Pew Charitable Trust. And it caught my eye because
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he talks about the Pacific bluefin tuna, a decade-long conservation
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success. And he links to another NOAA article that
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talks about how it went from overfish to a sustainable success
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story. But Jamie's talk he starts off his article really
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in an interesting way he talks about like how working in conservation can
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sometimes feel like an endless slog filled with both
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victories and frustrating setbacks and focusing on international fisheries
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which have been doing for over which he's been doing for over a decade can
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make everything feel like it's more drawn out. High seas
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fisheries are very valuable, worth tens of billions of dollars a
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year, and so there's a constant pressure to increase the amount
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of fish that can be caught, but management decisions are usually
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only made once a year. So if the progress isn't met
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after that one year, you have to wait an entire 12-month cycle
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to get your management priorities in place for the next
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year, and if it's not in there, It's not great. So that can help
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build overfish stocks. Tuna and sharks grow relatively slowly
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and live a relatively long time. So recovery can feel like it takes
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forever. But that's why this is interesting, because back
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in 2012, as Jamie reports, a
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scientific report showed that the population of Pacific bluefin tuna had
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been decimated by overfishing, which the
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stock dropped over 96% from its historic high. But
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that didn't stop a Japanese sushi chain from buying
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the bluefin tuna caught the next year for $1.7 million
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in a celebratory auction. You gotta
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remember that this species is large. When
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you get one particular species, they could weigh
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up to 1,000 pounds. And they're huge,
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they're like 10 feet in length. So they are big species, they
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are big fish. So buying something for $1.7 million
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is a huge, huge win. So with that decision,
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though, everything was going wrong for the species, showing that the
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money was outweighing the need for conservation. And
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in fact, with a lot of tuna species, the imminent
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decision or the imminent likelihood of you
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know, these species going extinct, that could go extinct, kind
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of increase their value of each individual species that's caught, or each
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individual of that species that's caught. You know, so
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a lot of places, a lot of corporations would catch these tuna,
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freeze them for a long time, for like 20 years or so, and sell them down
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the line when they know that they're gonna be extinct for more money. It's just
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an investment for a lot of these corporations. If you don't know what
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I'm talking about, watch End of the Line, It is an
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impeccable documentary that is narrated by
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Ted Danson, who's involved with Oceana, and they talk about
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the tuna industry in general, and you get a feel for what the tuna
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industry goes through in Europe, in the Mediterranean, in
