Sea Shepherd Wages Tuna Wars

by Stephanie Feldstein · 2010-03-23 09:00:00 UTC
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With whaling season in the Arctic Sea over, Paul Watson and the Sea Shepherd crew are headed to the Mediterranean to protect the endangered bluefin tuna. And the big fish could use the help — just last week, a proposal to protect the species was harpooned by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.

Norway, Kenya, and the U.S. were the only outright supporters of the ban on Atlantic bluefin tuna exports. The biggest opponent? Japan. Not much of a surprise since the sushi industry has a tendency to wreak havoc on marine life, including endangered whales. Japan consumes 80 percent of the world's Atlantic bluefin tuna.

WWF predicts that Atlantic bluefin tuna may be on their way to extinction within two years. The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas recently slashed the global quota by 40 percent, but conservationists worry that won't be enough. The ICCAT isn't known for enforcement.

That's where Sea Shepherd comes in. Watson says they'll cut the nets of anyone they find illegally fishing tuna. But it's a new game in the Mediterranean. They're not up against Japanese fisherman who are used to facing off with Sea Shepherd. "The bluefin fishery is controlled by the Italian Corsican mafia," said Watson. "So we're up against some pretty big bad boys when we go in there."

Photo credit: adulau

Stephanie Feldstein is a Change.org Editor who has been part of the animal welfare and rescue community for over a decade, and most recently worked for an environmental organization.
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