Many people decide to worry about animals that are cute and cuddly, and do not give enough time to the plight of certain fish species that are currently being fished to the brink of extinction.
Just like if you take the time to research a shark, you'll find it is not so scary, and that the chicken is not so much a 'bird-brain' but actually very intelligent, you can also find out how amazing the Bluefin tuna is.
Weighing around 250 kilos, and reaching over 4 metres in length, the Bluefin is an awesome specimen - when chasing prey they can travel up to 70 kph, and accelerate faster than a Porsche. Unlike most fish, the Bluefin are actually warm-blooded, with a specialised circulation system that allows the fish to retain up to 95% of the heat generated by their muscles.
They are also one of the top predators in the ocean, with the sharpest vision of all bony fish and with the ability to swim up to 1,000m depth to find food.
But these massive and majestic creatures are now in critical danger of collapse due to horrific overfishing. In all cases, this has been driven by the Japanese demand for sushi and sashimi. And although Bluefin is classified as overfished, the overfishing continues, and the obvious reason is money, with a single 220 kilo fish fetching more than $160,000 at auction in Japan.
In March 2010, the Japanese managed to quash any bans on trade that may have been put in place at the United Nations meeting in Qatar by lobbying aggressively. Australia also voted against the ban, which is not so suprising since they are second next to Japan in the having the biggest catches of Bluefin tuna.
The problems continue for the Bluefin, now in danger of its spawning ground being poisoned by the BP oil spill on the Gulf of Mexico, not to mention the over-sized EU industrial fishing fleet that managed to catch its quota in record time.
Are we waiting for the total annhilation of the Bluefin tuna to care?!
YOU can help by encouraging restaurants, chefs, retailers, consumers and friends to stop serving, buying, selling & eating Bluefin. WWF recently warned that if we don't stop the overfishing the Bluefin will be wiped out by 2012! So, help by not eating tuna for a while, abstain especially from bluefin, double check all tins and at restaurants to make sure they don't use Bluefin, and make a stand if they do. Becuase our eating habits are not a justifiable reason for the end of a species.
