Environment Bluefin tuna stocks are recovering
The Atlantic bluefin tuna stock has recovered after decades of overfishing. Today, it is back to around 55 per cent of the 1950 level, the nature conservation organization WWF announced on Monday.
03.03.2025, 05:30
SDA
In the 1990s, the population had fallen to just 15 percent. "The boom in the sushi industry and industrial fishing in particular put massive pressure on stocks, so much so that they almost collapsed," Catherine Vogler, marine conservation expert at WWF Switzerland, was quoted as saying in a press release. The low point was reached in 1996, when the population in the Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean declined by 85 percent compared to the 1950s.
Only strict regulation and monitoring measures made the turnaround possible. In 2010, 35 companies in the seafood industry also committed to no longer buying or selling Atlantic bluefin tuna.
After 20 years of protective measures, the bluefin tuna in the Atlantic and Mediterranean is no longer classified as overfished, according to the WWF. Fishing quotas are now adjusted on the basis of scientific assessments. Nevertheless, experts warn that without sustainable fishing practices and strict controls, there is a risk of a relapse, as the WWF press release went on to say.
