Defending at Risk Species: Addressing the Threats to Atlantic Bluefin Tuna

Often viewed merely as a sushi delicacy (a single tuna sold for almost $396,000 in January of this year), Atlantic bluefin tuna are increasingly at risk of extinction from overfishing, pollution, and habitat destruction. However the species is not currently listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), even though the Gulf of Mexico-site of last year's devastating BP oil spill-is one of only two known spawning grounds. Last May, the Center for Biological Diversity petitioned the National Marine Fisheries Service to list Atlantic bluefin tuna under the ESA. In November, after international regulators failed to decrease fishing quotas, it called for a bluefin boycott by consumers and restaurants in the U.S. and around the world.

Catherine Kilduff (staff attorney in the Center for Biological Diversity's Oceans Program) will discuss the political, legal, and economic forces contributing to the severe depletion of Atlantic bluefin tuna populations and what treaties and laws may be able to reverse the trend. She will also screen the short documentary "Looting the Seas," which reveals the saga of illegal over-fishing that has led to plummeting stocks of Atlantic bluefin tuna. For seven months, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists deployed a team of 12 journalists to investigate the bluefin trade. The project found that the demise of bluefin was directly linked to years of widespread fraud, negligence, and lack of oversight that spanned the entire supply chain - from fishing fleets and tuna ranches to distributors.

Room 240