New Report Shows Alarming Drop in Tuna Population

The International Scientific Committee for Tuna and Tuna-like Species in the North Pacific Ocean has released the findings of its most recent stock assessment, and scientists have found that populations of the fish have dropped 96.4 percent from their unfished levels. Overfishing is the biggest contributor to the decline, with current regulations on catching in the western Pacific proving totally unsustainable, according to the Pew Environment Group. At a recent auction in Tokyo, a single specimen fetched $1.76 million. Last June, the first catch limits were implemented for Pacific bluefin tuna in the eastern Pacific, leading to an early closure of the regional managing fishery in August. Amanda Nickson, director of global tuna conversation at the PEG, warns that the population is “in danger of all but disappearing.”