Word: bluefin
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1990-1999
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...most imminent peril are the giant predators of the oceans--sharks, of course, but also marlin, sailfish, swordfish and bluefin tuna, the magnificent swimming machines that have earned the nickname "Porsches of the sea." In the western Atlantic, the breeding population of northern bluefin, the largest tuna species, is thought to consist of perhaps 40,000 adults, down from some 250,000 two decades ago. Reason: the flourishing airfreight industry that allows fish brokers to deliver Atlantic Ocean bluefin overnight to Tokyo's sashimi market, where a single fish can fetch $80,000 or more at auction. "To a fisherman...
...Pacific, the Clinton Administration said Friday it would impose strict regulations that could close many areas to fishing and significantly alter fishing practices in U.S. territorial waters. The cost has been severe. The cod populations of the Grand Banks have fallen 95 percent. Populations of breeding-age Atlantic bluefin tuna have fallen more than 90 percent. In many places, the losses of commercial fish stocks have been catastrophic, and in the last decade tens of thousands of fishermen have been forced to abandon their boats. A spokeswoman for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said that preserving fish habitat...
...seafood menu are becoming harder and harder to catch as their populations collapse under the relentless assault of modern fishing fleets. Haddock, cod and flounder are so scarce off Cape Cod that a large part of America's oldest fishing area is now off limits. Populations of Atlantic bluefin tuna of breeding age have dropped 90% since 1975, and Pacific stocks are starting to fall as well. Orange roughy from the waters off New Zealand, redfish from the Caribbean, salmon off the American Northwest, Atlantic swordfish, Pacific perch -- all are vanishing...
...fish deficit has had little impact on consumers. The prices of some scarce varieties, such as bluefin tuna, have jumped, but in other cases long-distance fleets have traveled to alternative fishing areas, often in the southern hemisphere. In addition, fish suppliers are selling more of species not popular in the past, including dogfish and whiting. Most important, seafood manufacturers are making up for the ocean-fish shortage through aquiculture, the use of fish farms. Large populations of everything from sole to scallops are raised in big tanks or cages near the shore...
Though many of the world's fisheries are ostensibly managed on a sustainable basis, important species are in danger. Among them: bluefin tuna, cod and haddock in the Atlantic; certain varieties of grouper and snapper in the Gulf of Mexico; and sardines and anchovies in the Pacific. The United Nations and World Bank sponsored the Tropical Forestry Action Plan to sustain forests, but instead the plan spurred further deforestation. When asked by an environmentalist what he meant by sustainable, a World Bank agronomist replied, "Fifty years of timber production." Even the rubber tappers of Brazil's Amazon rain forest...