Increased protection urgently needed for tunas
Suva, Fiji 8 July, 2011 – For the first time, all species of scombrids (tunas, bonitos, mackerels and Spanish mackerels)
and billfishes (swordfish and marlins) have been assessed for the IUCN Red List of Threatened SpeciesTM. Of the 61 known
species, seven are classified in a threatened category, being at serious risk of extinction. Four species are listed as
Near Threatened and nearly two-thirds have been placed in the Least Concern category.
The results show that the situation is particularly serious for tunas. Five of the eight species of tuna are in the
threatened or Near Threatened IUCN Red List Categories.These include:Southern Bluefin (Thunnus maccoyii), Critically Endangered; Atlantic Bluefin (T. thynnus), Endangered; Bigeye (T. obesus), Vulnerable; Yellowfin (T. albacares), Near Threatened; and Albacore (T. alalunga), Near Threatened.
This new information will be invaluable in helping governments make decisions which will safeguard the future of these
species, many of which are of extremely high economic value, and is a timely input for the 3rd Joint Meeting of the Tuna
RFMOs (Regional Fisheries Management Organizations) being held in La Jolla, California, July 11-15.
“This is the first time that fishery scientists, ichthyologists and conservationists have come together to jointly
produce an assessment of the threats facing a commercially important group of fishes,” says Dr Bruce B. Collette, Chair
of the IUCN Species Survival Commission’s (SSC) Tuna and Billfish Specialist Group, Senior Scientist of the NOAA
National Marine Fisheries Service, and lead author of the paper.
There is growing concern that in spite of the healthy status of several epipelagic fish stocks (those living near the
surface), some scombrid and billfish species are being heavily overfished, and there is a lack of resolve to protect
against overexploitation driven by high prices. Many populations are exploited by multinational fisheries whose
regulation, from a political perspective, is exceedingly difficult.
“All three bluefin tuna species are susceptible to collapse under continued excessive fishing pressure. The Southern
Bluefin has already essentially crashed, with little hope of recovery,” says Dr Kent Carpenter, Professor at Old
Dominion University, manager of IUCN’s Marine Biodiversity Unit and an author of the paper. “If no changes are made to
current fishing practices, the western Atlantic Bluefin stocks are at risk of collapse as they are showing little sign
that the population is rebuilding following a significant reduction in the 1970s.”
Three species of billfishes are in threatened or Near Threatened categories: Blue Marlin (Makaira nigricans), Vulnerable; White Marlin (Kajikia albida), Vulnerable; and Striped Marlin (Kajikia audax), Near Threatened.
Most of the long-lived economically valuable species are considered threatened. They mature later than short-lived
species and their reproductive turnover is longer, and as such recovery from population declines takes more time. As
these scombrids and billfishes are at the top of the pelagic food web, population reductions of these predators may
cause significant negative effects on other species that are critical to the balance of the marine ecosystem and that
are economically important as a source of food.
The future of threatened scombrids and billfishes rests on the ability of RFMOs and fishing nations to properly manage
these species. Southern and Atlantic Bluefin populations have been so reduced that the most efficient way to avoid
collapse is to shut down the fisheries until stocks are rebuilt to healthy levels. However, this would cause substantial
economic hardship and hinder the ability of RFMOs to control fishing because of the increased incentive for illegal
fishing that would be created under these cicumstances.
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