John LoGioco.com

Global Fishery Managers Doom The Bluefin, Outcry Needed!

The 48 nation governing body that *tries* to manage open ocean fish (ICCAT) like the Atlantic Bluefin tuna has failed yet again. The disappointing details of this weekend's emergency meetings in Brazil can be found over at SaveTheBluefin.com.  Evidently the new recommendation from ICCAT sets the 2010 quota for the Mediterranean and East Atlantic to 13,500 metric tons, and that is 13,500 too many. Even their own scientists recommended that a moratorium, even for a year, would be the only option at this point.  Additional details include the purse seine fishery will get one month to fish (May 15 to June 15), cancellation of the of the 5 weather days and finally establishment *next year* of a 3 year rebuilding plan with a 60% probability of stock recovery and easily requiring another major quota reduction to somewhere between zero and 8,000 mt for 2011. In simple terms they agreed that killing more bluefin is still ok, and it's not.

Did you know that the commercial fleet in the European/Med is ~1300 boats.  By any standard this is way too many, especially for a fish that is teetering on the brink of commercial extinction.

However the USA did not lose any of it's quota, so kudos to Rebecca Lent at NOAA for securing this piece but I fear this came at the expense of supporting an Atlantic moratorium on taking bluefin.

Going forward, protecting the bluefin tuna as an endangered species under a CITES listing is the only answer. There is a meeting in March 2010 on this very issue and the public needs to speak.  The big question now is where will the US and EC stand on CITES?

I anticipate a global outcry based on these kill rates.  My network over at www.savethebluefin.com will mobilize with all it's might to help the push.  These tuna are a gift to mankind.  They are one of the most advanced ecological wonders of the world with powers and capabilities that are unfathomable  to mankind.  Who are we as a race to simply devastate them for a luxury food source.  We simply do not have the right and the managers at the ICCAT meetings in Brazil this weekend stepped over the line.

I call a global rally to help save the bluefin once and for all.  Email me at savethebluefintuna(at)gmail(dot)com for how you can help.

Blog about it, tweet about it, yell out of your front window because this is the front line in changing our ways as a global populace.  We can do it, and the bluefin will not go down on my watch!

Tag A Giant's Bluefin Tuna Data Now In Google Earth

   

The Tag A Giant Foundation (TAG) which is dedicated to helping save the bluefin tuna has teamed up with Google to provide features in the new version of Google Earth 5.0 where users can follow tracks that tagged bluefin make in the oceans.   One of the most amazing features of the new version is that users can dive beneath the surface of the ocean to not only see ocean topography but also to follow along the tracks of tagged animals like the giant bluefin tuna.  Google presents small "tuna" icons that are clickable and will display the tuna's tracks in the ocean as well as additional content about the tuna itself and the efforts underway to conserve and protect them.  The key element here is that the "tracks" actually come from data transmitted from satelitte tags that are attached to live tuna by the TAG Foundation.  These tags transmit data to satellites that is then collected and analyzed by the TAG scientists. 

This is actually the start of a larger project where Google is teaming up with TAG scientists and others to track a variety of large predatory animals.  A new site titled Global Tagging of Pelagic Predators was recently launched and will serve as the hub for this exciting new project.  Those of you who caught National Geographic's special on blue whales last Sunday saw how useful tagging data can be.  If we don't know where the whales, tuna and other large predatory fish swim, how can we protect them?

Aside from these advances and increased access to data on tagged animals through Google Earth, the team also has to be careful to not release data that can then be accessed and used by those with commercial or illegal fishing interests for locating and catching the tagged animals.  This will be a concern on a go forward basis as I am sure the teams have this in mind at all times. 

These are exciting times and as someone who works in technology, it is amazing to see the advances leveraged for the benefit of animals like the bluefin tuna.  Let's hope all these tools can help fuel a movement to change people's thinking on a global basis that animals like the bluefin tuna are worth saving. 

To support the amazing efforts of the TAG Foundation you can donate here.

To install Google Earth 5.0 on your computer go here.

The 100k Bluefin Tuna was a steal

It's amazing that the story of 2 Asian sushi bar owners who bid the price of a 282 pound bluefin to $100,000 has been picked up by almost every major news source. When you consider that this bluefin tuna is one of the last few hundred thousand larger bluefins swimming, the price they paid looks like a steal when you look at the value of that fish in perspective to the remaining population.

let's do some back of the napkin math to evaluate the price of this 100K bluefin tuna;

Assumptions:
This bluefin is one of 500,000 other bluefins of that size or larger swimming in the oceans today.

If each remaining bluefin was priced at $100,000, that would put the value of the entire group at $50,000,000,000.

Millions of years worth of evolution priced at 50B.

Compare this to the insane bailout amounts the US is extending to companies who can't make it past 150 years in a free market and the cost of the 100k bluefin tuna suddenly looks like a real bargain.

Named "Bluefin Gladiator" by Surfing Magazine

    

I am excited to announce that Surfing Magazine named me the "Bluefin Gladiator" in their most recent January issue, page 26.  Surfing ran a contest in their previous GREEN issue looking for everyday people who are making a difference with the environment.  I answered the call and submitted my social network site called SaveTheBluefin as an example of what I am doing to contribute.  As many of you know I am passionate about the ocean, the fish in it and especially the Atlantic Bluefin tuna - which by the way is in real trouble from being decimated by the hands of ineffective policy makers and reckless overfishing.  So SURFING Magazine was awesome to recognize my efforts and award me the prize, which is care package from one of my favorite companies called Sector9.  Sector9 makes some of the coolest skateboards around, and is known for pioneering the longboard on wheels.  You can check out this video of me longboarding on a skateboard to see how fun these boards can be.  So I am really psyched if that means more people will be exposed to this pressing issue and join the site to voice their concern and support.  Joining SaveTheBluefin is free, takes about a second to join and is incredibly important as every voice counts.  Here is the nice article that SURFING published;

So thanks to Evan Slater, Editor of Surfing Magazine and his team who evaluated the entrants for the contest and to Sector9 for providing the goodies.   p.s. I actually do have a mermaid, but am working on that Rasta-like cutback :)

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