大西洋黑鮪保育國際委員會過去不接受減少捕撈大西洋黑鮪，大西洋黑鮪數量因為持續的捕撈，以及BP石油公司在墨西哥灣漏油事故，在過去幾十年來持續下降。隨著黑鮪魚面臨厄運，生物多樣性中心於五月援引美國瀕臨絕種法案呼籲各界給予更多的保護。該委員會對於不減輕國際捕撈配額之決案意味著黑鮪魚的存危相當依賴美國瀕臨絕種法案。
國際鮪魚委員會原本有機會讓黑鮪魚不走向滅絕之路；相反的，委員會數年來一直忽略黑鮪瀕危之科學證據而讓過度漁撈仍被視為理所當然，委員會律師Catherine Kilduff提到。
從1969年國際委員會設立，當時黑鮪的數量仍相當豐富，至今則已瀕臨絕種之際。委員會於2011年時設立1.29萬噸的捕撈配額，以及對於地中海與大西洋東部，以及大西洋西部兩地區設立1750頓之配額。配額有下降，但仍然不夠。過去為13.5萬噸以及1800噸。雖然是個對的起步，仍不足以幫助黑鮪在 這世界上找回立足點。
Kilduff解釋：這個層級的漁撈壓力迫使黑鮪走向下個十年的極速消耗。這個漁撈的配額調整對於黑鮪數量的回復過於樂觀，以致於過去數年來漁民持續捕撈高價值黑鮪。隨著墨西哥灣石油洩漏事件顯示，黑鮪魚將面臨除了漁撈以外更多的威脅。
原文：
BlueFin Tuna In Dire Straights Due to OverfishingThe International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna did not accept the idea of reducing fishing of the Atlantic bluefin, whose populations have been declining for the past few decades from fishing pressure and, who could forget, the BP oil spill fiasco in the Gulf of Mexico. With the bluefin heading towards certain doom, the Center for Biological Diversity in May called for more protection, and invoked the U.S. Endangered Species Act. The decision to not reduce the international catch quotas by the commission means that the survival of the bluefin is riding very heavily on the U.S. Endangered Species Act.
“The international tuna commission had an opportunity to take bluefin tuna off the path to extinction but didn’t. Instead, the commission ignored years of scientific evidence about the perilous decline of bluefin tuna and chose to allow fishing to continue as if nothing is wrong,” commented a staff attorney at the Center, Catherine Kilduff.
Ever since 1969, when the international commission first came into being, the bluefin tuna – which was once very abundant – has been fished almost to the point of being extinct. The commission has set 2011 catch quotas of 12,900 tons, and 1,750 tons for the two different stocks of bluefin tuna: the Mediterranean and eastern Atlantic stock and the western Atlantic stock. The quotas have dipped a little, but not enough. They came down from 13,500 tons and 1,800 tons respectively. That is a step in the right direction, but not enough to help the bluefin regain a toehold in the world.
“This level of fishing pressure sentences bluefin tuna to yet another decade of depletion,” Kilduff explained. “The fishing quotas adopted today bank on overly optimistic conditions for tuna recovery so that fishermen can continue to catch the prized bluefin tuna as they have in past years. As the Gulf of Mexico oil spill shows, bluefin face more threats than just fishing.”
