I usually don’t like to write about rumours and speculations but sometimes they are interesting enough to warrant a few rows here in the news section. There is a growing speculation and fear among tuna fisherman that tuna fishing will be strictly regulated or banned before the end of the year.

The speculations state that a complete ban on Tune fishing in the entire Atlantic Ocean will be announced in November during the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna meeting in Morocco. This would be a result of plummeting tuna populations and increased pressure from environmental organisations. American fishermen are believed to be among those supporting a complete ban which might be true as the US have a very small tuna fishing industry. The only exception from the ban would be sport fishing.

There is also a rumour that the tuna fishing ban won’t be limited to the Atlantic but that a global tuna fishing ban might be close to being announced. It is unclear whether the ban would include all tuna species or only the blue fin tuna but the later seems more likely.

Personally I find the announcement of a global or even an Atlantic tuna fishing ban very doubtful even if I would appreciate the imitative. (Despite the fact that I love grilled tuna) A tuna fishing ban in the Mediterranean seems more likely but might also meet more resistance due to large fishing operations present there. It is also doubtful if such a ban would be respected in the Mediterranean as the fishermen there have a history of breaking the rules such as in this incident I reported about earlier this year.

What do you guys think? Will we see a Tuna ban before the end of the year? Is one needed?

Purse seine fishing regionally banned by the United States Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council

According to a report from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, the United States Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council has decided to ban so called purse seine fishing in parts of the Western Pacific. The council is concerned about the large boats with massive nets that use the purse seine fishing technique in the Western Pacific and fear that they might deplete the local fish populations, especially when it comes to the popular foodfishes yellowfin tuna and skipjack tuna. The ban concerns all federal waters off Guam, the Northern Marianas and American Samoa and in this area all purse seine fishing will be illegal within 75 nautical miles of the shore.

You can fin more information here

The Yellowfin tuna is a popular food fish and is known to reach a length of 239 meters (94 inches). It lives in the upper 100 meters (330 feet) of the ocean and is found in both tropical and subtropical parts of the world. The severe depletion of the Bluefin tune has become a problem for the Yellowfin tuna, since consumers have begun to purchase Yellowfin tuna as a replacement for Bluefin tuna.

The Skipjack tuna is smaller than the yellowfin and can only reach a length of roughly 100 cm (3.3 feet). It is a popular foodfish world wide, but especially sought after in Japan where it is used to make traditional katsuobushi, which is an important ingredients in dashi (a type of fish stock).