Young Yellowfin Massacre
by admin
It is sad to say that the yellow fin tuna (Thunnus albacares) is already on the list of threatened species mainly due to overfishing. Recently, the blue fin tuna is already a step away from being declared an endangered specie due to the same reason. Indeed, short term greed, long term loss.
In the Philippines, we also have this tuna overfishing phenomenon. This article will only focus on our recent visit to a nearby Quezon City wet market along what is there in common about our wealth.
While ogling for the usual fish and meat products, we came across some large bodied fishes bigger than my torso (okay, me). As curiosity is at its best, we asked the manong what are those big fishes lying cold on his table. “Yellow fin!” answered the proud vendor. Tuna is also referred to by some as the “chicken of the sea“.
“Meron din kaming maliliit” (we also have small ones), he added. As he said this, another vendor is chanting these lines “Tuna pwedeng kaining hilaw, bili na kayo…” (Tuna fish you can eat raw, buy now).
Okay, what is the fuss with young yellow fins? We thought we had a ban on young yellow fins? Isn’t it at least prohibited? “P80.00 lang kalahating kilo” (Only P80.00 for one-half kilo).
In 2008, Secretary Arthur Yap of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources issued Fishery Administrative Order No. 226 (FAO 226) which “bans the catching of young tuna with weight of less than 500 grams a piece. The prohibition also applies to yellowfin tuna, big-eyed tuna, and skipjack tuna.“
Well, we have not heard of anybody caught in flagrante delicto selling against the prohibition of FAO 226. How would a hungry stomach fight against food anyway?
Tunas are not loners. They swim and have fun in schools or in groups numbering thousands. According to Wikipedia -
Yellowfin tuna often travel in schools composed of fish of similar size. They will sometimes school with other species of tuna and mixed schools of small yellowfin and skipjack tuna, in particular, are commonplace. They are often associated with various species of dolphins or porpoises, as well as with larger marine creatures such as whales and whale sharks.
With this fish attitude, tunas are caught using nets. And with these nets, young and old tunas are caught altogether and indiscriminately. Some unscrupulous fishermen, however, just couldn’t find the simple joy of throwing back the young yellow fins back to the ocean where they could grow further to adulthood, live a little longer, dance in the waves for another season or take a tour to another part of this place we call Earth.
A good thing though is that the DENR through the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resouces (BFAR) has heightened its campaign against the massacre of young tunas by declaring it unlawful for any person, association, cooperative, partnership or corporation to operate tuna purse seine nets with mesh sizes smaller than 3.5 inches or 8.89 centimeters at the bag or bunt portion in catching tuna. Simple. Bigger mesh sizes for little johnny tuna to go and escape.
Moving futher, the DENR has joined some scientific teams to study the migration patterns of tuna by tagging some fishes for close monitoring. The tags ended up in plates. Now, they are asking the fishermen, vendors and consumers to return the tags. Fortunately for the tags, they don’t get extinct.
Our effort to abate yellow fin tuna’s nearing endangered status is painting a hopeless picture with the blatant non-observance to government and international laws and guidelines to spare the young from the thoughtless slaughter. Humans are not the only consumers of tuna and other fish products. Sharks and other predator fishes consume them too but the rate of human consumption outweighs the rest.
Not to be hypocritical about it, we bought tuna. A kilo of the adult one though. Just enough for six hungry young poets.
As consumers, we can be vigilant by simply not patronizing the selling of young tunas – be they more or less than 500 grams. If we only care for our children (and as Michael Jacson puts it – and the children of our children), then let us cooperate to the government’s effort in curbing the illegal trade of young tunas be they yellow, blue , black, magenta, or red or purple or green fin. ##
“I wouldn’t dream of eating tuna, especially bluefin tuna. It would be like eating a rhinoceros: it’s just as endangered.” – Michael Gianni, Green Peace Int’l.
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