Project 18

Transcript

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By Tyler Douglas and Callen Viter

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Decline of Bluefin Tuna

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By Tyler Douglas and Callen Viter

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Diamond in the Sea

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Bluefin Tuna can grow as big as 10ft and weigh up to a 1000 pounds

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With their speed and strength, they are one of the top predators in our oceans

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Bluefin are the most expensive fish ever recorded

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Bluefin on average live to 15 years old but some have been found as old as 26

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Why Such High Demand ?

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They are highly desired for their rich fatty meat

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Bluefin are the largest, oilliest, delicious tuna of all time

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They are especially desired in Asian and high end Western resturants

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In Japan a single bluefin sold for $1.7 million dollars in 2013

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Overfishing

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Pacific Bluefin have suffered a heavy decline of 96%

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About 90% of bluefin caught are underage and haven't produced yet

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There are less than 40,000 adult bluefin left in the wild

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On average 25,000 tons are caught each year!

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There was no bag or size limit on bluefin until 2012!

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Japan's Dominance

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When the sushi business started booming the demand for bluefin in Japan jumped

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Japan overall purchases over 80% of bluefin sold

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Buyers from all over the world fly to Japan to bid on Bluefin

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The high demand for sushi and sashimi is one of the man causes for the decline

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Purse siene-

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Ways Bluefin Tuna are Caught

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Longline-

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Trolling-

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Tuna Ranching and Farming

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Young Bluefin Tuna are put into 50 meter wide cages by fisherman

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Bluefin farming is thought to be harmful to the stocks because they can't reproduce

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It is very expensive to feed the tunas in the pens

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2 tons of squid and mackerel are needed to produce a 220lb Bluefin

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After a tuna has reached 30kg it can be sold commercially

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How Bad do Tuna Have It?

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Bluefin are not on the endangered list, yet are a vulnerable species

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Catching juvenile bluefin is really taking a toll on the population

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Tuna need more time to grow to adulthood and reproduce

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Until recently there was no bag limit or size limit

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What Can Be Done ?

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We can refrain from ordering bluefin at reasturants

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Get Bluefin under the endangered species list

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Catching juvenile bluefin must be heavily reduced

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What can be done?Pt2

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We can work to end commercial blue fin fishing Boycott the blue fin tuna industry Implement much more rigorous size and bag limits