Thursday, June 04, 2009
Bluefin tuna (second from left)
Mitsubishi, the Japanese conglomerate best known for making automobiles and electronics, is being accused of helping wipe out the bluefin tuna through its efforts to corner the market on the endangered species. A subsidiary of Mitsubishi is the largest importer of all bluefin caught in the Atlantic and Mediterranean, and environmentalists have accused the company of freezing the fish in order to sell it years from now if it becomes extinct. Such a development could come as soon as 2012, scientists estimate. Mitsubishi is featured in the documentary film The End of the Line, in which a former bluefin fisherman travels the world monitoring catches and claiming Mitsubishi buys and sells 60% of the threatened fish.
Mitsubishi is not the only culprit responsible for pushing the bluefin towards extinction.
The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), which sets quotas on commercial fishing, allowed 22,000 tons of bluefin to be caught this year, even though its own scientists advised no more than 8,500-15,000 tons. Conservationists often refer to the ICCAT as the “International Conspiracy to Catch All Tuna.” Commercial fishing operations, including those with ties to Italian mobs, often ignore commission rules, such as those banning the use of airplanes to spot tuna shoals, leading to overfishing that may be as high as 60,000 tons of bluefin annually.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
Revealed: the Bid to Corner World's Bluefin Tuna Market (by Martin Hickman, The Independent)
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