Feds Set High Fishing Quotas for Atlantic Bluefin Tuna, Allowing Continued Harm to Ravaged Species

The National Marine Fisheries Service today announced the highest limits allowable under international law for the U.S. catch of Atlantic bluefin tuna, a magnificent species ravaged by overfishing. The catch limits follow recommendations of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas, which has failed to effectively regulate bluefin tuna fishing for more than 40 years.

But only last month, in response to a Center for Biological Diversity petition, the Fisheries Service designated the bluefin tuna as a species of concern due to the agency’s own concern over the health of the Gulf of Mexico — the only spot where western Atlantic bluefin tuna spawn — and the threat of overfishing of eastern Atlantic bluefin, which are plagued by illegal fishing in the Mediterranean.

“Western Atlantic bluefin tuna are critically imperiled, and yet our course for fishing is full-steam ahead,” said Catherine Kilduff, a Center for Biological Diversity staff attorney. “The catch levels announced today are too high for decimated bluefin tuna populations, especially given the state of the Gulf of Mexico and continued illegal fishing overseas.”… 

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