For once, strict management
appears to be working, while aquaculture is juicing up the number of fry been
released to accelerate the stock rebuilding program.
The good news is that we can expect
stocks to be fully rebuilt in ten years to an optimal level. Even better, the global fishing industry
seems to be adopting similar rules for other stocks and thus we can anticipate
a full global recovery everywhere within perhaps forty years for most stocks. The failures will be those stocks hunted
below the level necessary for an easy recovery as we seem to be seeing with the
Grand Banks cod.
Even better news, is the
emergence of a replacement fish for blue tuna that approaches a near one to one
conversion ratio. Thus the appropriate
style of fish product will be available
for the rising global middle class while the wild catch slides into been a
niche market. Recall that aquaculture
now supplies half the market. That will
go to three quarter even with wild stocks rebuilding over the next twenty
years.
In Spite of Widely Publicized Fears, Bluefin Tuna Populations Are
Actually Rebounding
Released: 4/20/2011 11:20 AM EDT
Newswise — A study released on April 19 by the International Union for
Conservation of Nature (IUCN) offers a dire prediction: More than 40 species of
marine fish currently found in the Mediterranean
could disappear in the next few years. According to the report, commercial
species, including the Bluefin Tuna, are considered threatened or near
threatened with extinction at the regional level, mainly due to overfishing.
“The Mediterranean and Eastern Atlantic
population of the Atlantic Bluefin Tuna (Thunnus thynnus) is of particular
concern,” says Kent Carpenter, IUCN Global Marine Species Assessment
Coordinator. “There has been an estimated 50% decline in this species’
reproduction potential over the past 40 years due to intensive overfishing. The
lack of compliance with current quotas combined with widespread underreporting
of the catch may have undermined conservation efforts for this species in the Mediterranean .”
This statement is baffling given the best available information on the
issues of the Mediterranean and Eastern Atlantic
Bluefin stock. The “widespread underreporting” and “lack of compliance with
current quotas” must refer to incidents before the 2008-2010 reform of ICCAT,
as no reports of illegal fishing have been filed since 2009, according to
ICCAT’s illegal vessel list (http://www.iccat.int/en/IUU.asp),
in spite of much strengthened policing of the waters and tighter control of
the fishing. The study also contradicts the result of ICCAT’s scientific body,
SCRS, which published a report (http://www.iccat.int/Documents/Meetings/Docs/2010_SCRS_eng.pdf)
in autumn 2010, the most comprehensive assessment of the status of the stock
ever made.
“With the exception of the Atlantic Bluefin over the past two years,
the Atlantic Bluefin stocks did suffer from a lack of coordinated management
over the last few decades,” notes Oli Steindorsson, Chief Executive Officer of
Umami Sustainable Seafood. Mr. Steindorsson, a native of an Icelandic fishing
village, is relying on his deep roots in the industry, and lessons learned from
the overfishing and replenishment of the cod stock in his native country, to
position Umami at the forefront of the fight for sustainable use of the world’s
Bluefin stock.
As concerns over depleting the natural stock of Bluefin Tuna have
increased in recent years, the International Commission for the Conservation of
Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) has reduced the total available catch for the Eastern
Atlantic Bluefin Tuna (NBT) from 32,000 metric tons in 2006 to 13,500 tons in
2010 and 12,900 in 2011. A stock assessment conducted by SCRS in October 2010
calculated the Mediterranean stock of Atlantic Bluefin Tuna at approximately
175,000 metric tons, a significant improvement over a 2007 estimate of 78,000
metric tons, 57% of the historical highpoint of the stock in 1955-1957.
Management measures put in place by ICCAT have outlawed illegal unreported
catches and set the stock on a track to regain its former prominence. According
to SCRS, the scientific body of ICCAT, the stock is expected to reach
equilibrium in 2022, given the current quota of 12,900 metric tons.
Umami’s sustainability strategy is built around a set of objectives.
For example, Umami strictly adheres to the catch levels scientifically required
to permit the replenishment of Bluefin and other overfished species in
particular regions. Also, the tuna that is caught by Umami is being farmed year
round in cages at its facilities in Croatia
and Mexico
“We are very proud of the work we have done to date to build a
sustainable aquaculture business around the Northern Bluefin
Tuna species and we are excited about our future,” says Mr. Steindorsson.
“Currently, we are the among very few companies in the world that is capable of
farming Bluefin Tuna year-round. Our sites have been strategically chosen for
that purpose, and we hold more than half of the known locations worldwide where
tuna can be farmed year-round.
“There are no predators, such as sea otters, sea lions or sharks, in
the Adriatic waters—where our Croatian facility is located—that might attack
the fish in captivity. In the Pacific, where there are natural predators, we
have built cages to keep the predators out of our Mexican facility. The waters
where our farming sites are located are pristine, with no cases of red or blue
tide caused by the damaging build-up of algae. There is no industrial
production nearby either of our facilities, and in both places there is
exceptionally clean water. The islands surrounding the farm sites offer natural
shelter against most storms. In addition, the salt and oxygen levels and the
water temperature offer a good combination of conditions for sustainable growth
of the tuna.”
Bluefin farmed by Umami is fed only whole, small pelagic fish. No
chemicals, drugs or additives are fed to the fish. Umami has managed to
maintain a feed-conversion ratio of 13:1 at its Croatian facility and 17:1 at
its Mexican facility, in contrast to the industry average of around 20 and the
25-30:1 ratio required in the wild. This means that the company is able to
sustain its stock of tuna with considerably less feed than what even Mother
Nature can manage.
Umami’s operations hold a larger number of sexually mature fish than
can be found in captivity anywhere in the world, which in turn spawn in their
cages, releasing fry into the wild. The company has put considerable resources
into a propagation program, and commercially viable breeding of the northern
Bluefin Tuna could become reality within a few years, eliminating the need for
wild catch. Umami has a large brood stock population in Croatia, which has been
proven to spawn in 2009 and 2010, and it has expanded its knowledge and
capabilities in taking the fertilized eggs to the next stage. Umami is well
placed to maximize its future production quantities with the use of specific
technologies and propagation infrastructure and is focused on achieving the
clear objective to close the life cycle of the species as soon as possible. A
variety of factors will determine the time involved in achieving this goal.
Umami has campaigned for lower quotas and stricter controls over the
last five years, and its stance remains that all fishing should be subject to
quota, based on a scientific assessment of maximum annual yield.
“Umami already has a proven record of financial success, and we are
taking very good care of the environment along the way,” says Mr. Steindorsson.
“Although Japan
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