Witnessing the decline of bluefin tuna in the Mediterranean

/ ©: WWF
Bluefin tuna - bearing witness to collapse
© WWF
The fishing season ends for another year, and as what remains of the threatened bluefin tuna stock continues its amazing migrations, the question now is - will it survive?
In the absence of any effective monitoring by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), tthe body tasked with managing the fishery, or its contracting parties, this Witness Series draws on testimonies and other sources of information to track the fate of the bluefin of the Med.

Issue 1

/ ©: Turkish Tuna Farms Association
Nedim Anbar, President of the Turkish Tuna Farms Association
© Turkish Tuna Farms Association
Few people believe that the Med bluefin stock will survive for much longer and many fear that there is no future in the fishery. In 2007 the fleets aimed to take as much as they could, for as long as they could and, in some cases, by any means necessary.

Diego Crespo, a traditional tuna trapper in Southern Spain, and Nedim Anbar, President of the Turkish Tuna Farms Association, give their accounts of the 2007 tuna fishing season.

Read more

Issue 2

/ ©: WWF Mediterranean
Caroline Bennett, Managing Director of the sushi restaurant chain Moshi Moshi.
© WWF Mediterranean
In this second edition of Bluefin Witness, Caroline Bennett - owner of thriving sushi bar chain Moshi Moshi - talks to WWF about why she has banned bluefin tuna from all her menus.

At the same time bluefin expert José Luis Cort explains his fears of what the Norway tuna collapse precedent implies for the fate of the Mediterranean stock. Read more

Issue 3

/ ©: R.Ellis
Book cover for "Tuna: A Love Story"
© R.Ellis
As reported in previous editions of WWF’s Bluefin Witness, the scientists advising ICCAT have expressed grave concern at the plummeting numbers of bluefin tuna in the Mediterranean.

In the third edition of Bluefin Witness,  Jose Luís Cort, one of the ICCAT scientific committee’s leading advisors, restates that the current rate of fishing is putting the stock at high risk of collapse. And ocean historian and successful author Richard Ellis turns to tuna with his book, “Tuna: A Love Story.” Read more

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