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SofiaCastillo
English113B
ProfessorBatty
2/19/16

OFortuna
Overthelastfewdecades,tunahasbeenoverfishedtothepointwhereitisindangerof
goingextinct.ThefactthattunaisbecomingmorepopularnotonlyintheUnitedStatesbutall
aroundtheworldiscausingthedemandtoincreasedramaticallytothepointwheretuna
populationsarebecomingsmallerandareunabletorecover.Whenfishermancatchtunatheyuse
hugenetswherethousandsoffisharetrapped,includingtheyoungerones.Thisisstoppingtuna
frombreedingbecausetheyoungfishdontreachtheirsexualmaturityanddonotreproducesoa
newgenerationcannotbeborn.Ontopofallthis,theInternationalCommissionforthe
ConservationofAtlanticTuna(ICCAT)isignoringthewarningsthatscientistshavegiventhem
abouttheamountoftunathatcanbecaughtsustainably.Thoughpeoplemayconcedethatfarm
raisingtunacouldpotentiallybethesolutiontothisproblem,itisaverydifficultandimpractical
processthatatthispointintimeisnotfeasible.Thesolutiontothisproblemissimple,meaning
thatpeoplestopconsumingtunaforawhilejusttogivethemanopportunitytorecover.
The worldwide demand for tuna is higher than ever before. There are numerous reasons
for why tuna is such a desirable fish. First of all, tuna is the most common and prized ingredient
in the preparation of sushi because of its unique taste and texture as well as its intense color. In
the past tuna was not as popular of a fish as it is now, but with the increase in the sashimi market
of the United States and Japan in the 1980s, tuna is now a very valuable commodity (Fromentin,

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2014). Many of us have seen that sushi restaurants have menus where many of the plates have
tuna as their primary ingredient. It is hard to imagine the massive amount of tuna that is used
daily in thousands of sushi restaurants all over the world, and whats even worse is that more and
more sushi restaurants keep opening. In the documentary Sushi: The Global Catch it is
mentioned that sushi is becoming more popular in countries like India and China that are starting
to discover its unique taste. It is alarming to imagine these massive populations consuming tuna
and opening sushi restaurants at the same rapid rate as the United States has. Another level of
this problem is that as the demand of tuna increases, more needs to be caught.
In the past, the primary method used to catch tuna was by catching each tuna one at a
time using a fishing rod. As time went on, this method could not keep up with demand and new
methods were used. There are two main methods used nowadays to catch tuna which are known
as Purse-Seine fishing and Longline fishing (Hampton, 2007). Purse-Seine fishing consists of
using a very large net to catch huge schools of fish by luring them into the net using what is
known as Fish Aggregating Device. Once they are inside the net, the ends of the net are pulled
together like a purse closing and it is pulled to the surface. Longline Fishing consists of dropping
a fishing line filled with hooks which is extremely long that fish and other animals bite on to.
Both of these methods are extremely destructive because many other animals including dolphins
and turtles can get caught. The most commonly used method to catch tuna is the Purse-Seine
fishing method which is especially bad because since it catches a lot of fish at once including the
younger ones, which doesnt allow tuna to reach their sexual maturity. As a result, they cannot
reproduce and a new generation cant be born.
In the documentary Sushi:The Global Catch the effect this has on the environment is
discussed. Tuna are at the top of food chain in the ocean. Tuna consumes smaller fish which in

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tern consume tiny fish. This specific tiny fish eat bacteria. If tuna is removed from the pyramid,
the small fish start killing the tiny fish until there are non left. Once the tiny fish are gone, the
small fish have nothing to eat so they eventually starve. Then all that is left is the bacteria. This is
catastrophic for the oceans and destroys them for future generations.
Seeing tuna faced with all of these dangers, we would expect that there is a group who is
in charge of keeping them safe. Sadly, this group does exist but they have been doing a terrible
job since late 1990s to 2008 as it did not follow the advice given by its own scientists. This
group is known as the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas or
ICCAT for short. ICCAT consists primarily of scientists and governmental representatives as
well as people involved in the tuna industry. Their scientific advisors determine how much tuna
can be caught in a year to the point where the tuna population can remain healthy. Unfortunately,
a combination of economic interests between countries as well as the mismanagement of ICCAT
stopped them from making good decisions regarding the amount of tuna that could be caught in
the Mediterranean Sea. Most of the catches being made were not reported until 2007 which let to
the overexploitation of tuna (Fromentin, 2014). As a result, in the 35 years prior to 2011 Bluefin
tuna stocks decreased by 90% (Kato, 2011). However, ICCAT started listening to scientists
warnings in 2009. After nearly 20 years of failing nonstop, ICCAT has caused severe damage to
tuna populations that it is only now trying to fix. Recently, ICCAT imposed new rules for its
members that force them to listen to scientists or risk being removed from the commission.
Thanks to this, its newest plan for saving Atlantic tunas is projected to restore their numbers to
healthier levels by 2022 as a result of following very strict limits as to how many tuna can be
caught (Fromentin, 2014).

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The attitude that average people have towards tuna is one of indifference even though its
in their hands to fix this problem. As we have already seen, the organization that is supposed to
protect tuna is ignoring the fact that it is in danger of going extinct so it is up to the consumer to
save it. People assume that since the ocean is huge, there will somehow be enough tuna to last
forever even if billions of people are consuming it. However, this way of thinking is very nave
and comes from the ignorance of the problems facing tuna. We as humans like being on the limit
line for everything. For instance, global warming is a big problem we are facing right now as a
planet and governments are trying to tell people to be more conscious of their own actions.
Although, if they do not contribute by doing their own part, nothing will get better. This is the
same situation as the one we are facing with tuna.

This is the same situation as the one we are facing with tuna. In Dawn Katos article
Battle of Bluefin: The Consumers Role in preserving the Atlantic Bluefin Tuna she sums up the
relationship between the consumer and tuna when she says becauserestaurantswillpayfor
whattheconsumerdemands,thepowertoendthebluefin'sdemiselieswithintheconsumer.By
makingthiscomment,Katospointisthatourdesireoftunacontrolsitsprice.Thesoonerwe
stopconsumingtuna,thelessdemandtherewillbeandasaresultofthisrestaurantswillserveit
less,priceswillgodownandfishermanwillnotbeastemptedtocatchasmanyfishastheyused
to.Some people have proposed that farm raising tuna will help mediate this problem. However,
it is a very long and complex process that hasnt been successful and a lot more research needs to
be done in order to make it happen. As we said before, the only solution in the near future is to
stop consuming tuna in order to save the species.

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Overall,sincewehavebeenoverexploitingtunaduringthelastfewyears,thisshouldbe
awakeupcalltoeveryoneintheworld.Wehavefalleninlovewithsushi.Welovethecultural
aspectofit,itscleanness,healthinessandmostimportantlyitstaste.Wehaveevenaddedour
ownflavorstoitsothatmorepeoplecraveit.However,wedonotseethebiggerimplications
thatarisefromoverfishingtunausingunsustainablemethodsthatalsoputotheranimalslivesin
jeopardyaswell.Moretunahasbeencaughtthancanreproducebecauseofthebad
mismanagementICCATcarriedoutforyears.Oncetheyareallgone,theoceanwillneverbethe
sameandthereisnogoingback.Withouttunathewholeecosystemoftheoceanwillberuined
andourchildrenwillbeleftwithouttheoceanwehad.Wehaveenoughreasonstostopeating
tunaalreadysonowisthetimethattoactsmartandchangeourwaysoffishingaswellasthe
amountoffishweeat.Weneedtothinkwiththefutureinmindandnotjustourstomachs.

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Works Cited
Brower, Kenneth. "Bluefin Tuna." Quicksilver Tuna. National Geographic, Mar. 2014. Web. 14
Feb. 2016.
Fromentin, Jean-Marc, Sylvain Bonhommeau, Haritz Arrizabalaga, and Laurence T. Kell. "The
Spectre of Uncertainty in Management of Exploited Fish Stocks: The Illustrative Case of
Atlantic Bluefin Tuna." Marine Policy 47 (2014): 8-14. EBSCO. Web. 12 Feb. 2016.

Kato,Dawn."BattleofBluefin:TheConsumersRoleinPreservingtheAtlanticBluefinTuna."
ScholarlyCommons42.1(2011):15086.Web.21Feb.2016.

Sushi: The Global Catch. Dir. Mark Hall. Sakana Film Productions, 2012. Netflix.

Williams, Nigel. "Battle Lines Deepen to save Bluefin Tuna." Current Biology 19.15 (2009):
625-26. EBSCO. Web. 13 Feb. 2016.

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Professorscomments:
Sofia,
Youhavesomegreatpointshere.Youhaveaveryspecifictopicandaclearthesisstatement.
Theorganizationofyourparagraphsisalsoclear.Youdidagoodjobofincorporatingyour
sourcesintotheparagraphs.Youmaywanttoexpandonthecounterargumentaboutfarmfisha
little.Thiscouldbeaseparateparagraphwhereyouexplainthisprocessandwhyitdoesnt
work,whichtomyunderstandinghastodowiththecleanlinessofkeepingsomanyfishina
smallbodyofwater.Youneedtofixyourintextcitations,asyouarecurrentlycitinginAPA
formatnotMLAformat.Overall,youdidagreatjobofexplainingthislittleknownissueand
startingwhatshouldbedoneaboutit.Besuretoedityourworkcarefully.95/100