TITLE:
An Examination of Sustainable Management of Pacific Bluefin Tuna Stock
AUTHORS:
Takashi Sekiyama
KEYWORDS:
Conservation Ecology, Pacific Bluefin Tuna, Moratorium, Maximum Sustainable Use
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Environmental Protection,
Vol.8 No.1,
January
11,
2017
ABSTRACT: This
paper addresses a fundamental question in conservation ecology, which is the
balance between rebuilding of a species’ population and exploiting them, by
examining an appropriate sustainable management regulation for Pacific Bluefin
tuna. The population of Pacific Bluefin tuna has been heavily depleted to just
2.6% of its historic unfished size by many years of overfishing. In order to
rebuild the population, an immediate implementation of a moratorium on all
commercial fishing was proposed by NGOs such as the Pew Charitable Trusts and
Greenpeace. The primary objective of this paper is to examine the necessity of
the moratorium as a sustainable stock management regulation. The paper
concludes that an additional 10% reduction in catch limit of fish less than 30
kg could be a better alternative management regulation than a total ban on all
fishing. This option can increase the probability of the stock recovery, while
allowing to catch as many
large fishes as under the current management regulation. Through the
examination of sustainable stock management for Pacific Bluefin tuna, it can be
said that it is important to consider the balance between the recovery of the
population and utilization of them. Since millions of people rely on the
consumption of the species, it is more realistic to gradually rebuild the
population with an intermediate target and an efficient additional catch limit.
This consideration
can be applied to conservation of other species such as whales and eels.