What Can Be
Done
There are a number of ways the average person
can help with this conservation effort. One of the easiest ways is just to be
an informed consumer: by not eating at places that serve farmed Bluefin, or
purchasing it at the market, it reduces the demand for the tuna, which in turn
contributes to decreasing the overfishing done to the species.
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| Atlantic Bluefin Tuna. Photo credit to WWF and naturepl.com. |
According to Stefano B. Longo’s paper, “The
Tragedy of the Commodity: The Overexploitation of the Mediterranean Bluefin
Tuna Fishery”, the biggest reason why we see such a decline in Bluefin
fisheries is not due to the commonly-accepted tragedy of the commons, which
states that individuals acting in their own self-interest deplete a common
resource, and that the buildup of these individuals (in this case, the players
in the fishing industry) works against the best interest of the common resource
(Hardin 1244). However, Longo argues that this is a more representative case of
the tragedy of the commodity, which looks at capitalism, the market, and state
regulations, and how they amplify rather than resolve environmental problems
(Longo 13). With this in mind, Longo states that if policymakers and
conservation groups take a new and different approach to management strategies,
it might be able to address the problems that fisheries currently face.
Currently, the Bluefin tuna is not listed
under the Endangered Species Act, which if it were to be listed, there would be
increased funding and a set plan to help with conservation in areas around the
U.S. Furthermore, management for the Bluefin could be turned over to the
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (or CITES), which was
the committee that enacted the ban on ivory trading (Safina). Anyone can write to their local legislator or conservation group, and ask them to
consider petitioning either of these fronts.
