Endangered Bluefin Tuna in Europe

 In 2007, US accused the European countries of over-fishing Atlantic Bluefish Tuna, a highly migratory warm-blooded species that can grow to nearly a ton. This fish is highly over-fished because a single fish can fetch tens of thousands of dollars due to increasing demand for dishes like sushi. Especially in Japan, Atlantic bluefin tuna can command prices of hundreds of dollars per kilo at Tokyo's Tsukiji fish market. There is thus fear of the extinction of this specie as breeding stocks of bluefin tuna have declined to below 40% of their 1970 levels, with the steepest drop occurring in the past five to 10 years. Thus in 2008, The European Commission has launched a major EU control campaign aimed at preventing a repeat of last year's over-fishing of Mediterranean bluefin tuna by a number of EU member states. This season, 16 aircraft and 49 large and small patrol vessels will conduct inspections at sea, while 50 inspectors will visit vessels in port. The launch of the Joint Deployment Plan marks the EU's determination to ensure that the 15 year recovery plan for the giant tunas, agreed within the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna, ICCAT, in November 2006, is fully respected. In 2009, the European commission lent its support to a proposal that, barring new scientific evidence, would list Atlantic and Mediterranean bluefin as an endangered species and therefore ban its trade for two years. Hence, this is done in the hope that we can save the endangered Bluefin Tuna from extinction.