America may be freaking out about oil, but Europe has other environmental woes as well. Take, for example, the red tuna.
Link: Do You Really Need the Tuna??
On the afternoon of August 4th in Port-Saint-Louis-du-Rhône, France (the central, southern coast), 200 amateur fishers gathered to protest the red tuna ban imposed on July 9th by the European Union.
The ban arose from concerns of Belgian fisherman, reporting that red tuna catches were extremely low all across Europe. After some scientific research, it was discovered that the red tuna was being so severely over-fished that the species was actually undergoing mutation!
The problem is that red tuna were being caught indiscriminately in large nets by large fishing companies. Many red tuna were finding themselves on dinner plates before even reaching sexual maturity. So the tuna population responded— the age of sexual maturity in red tuna began to decrease.
It goes without saying that this opened a whole new can of worms (no fishing pun intended). Some male red tuna were actually found with both male and female genitalia, unable to produce offspring. It’s an impending ecological disaster to say the least.
Thus came about the red tuna fishing ban on July 9th; however, the 200 amateur fishers are protesting because they say they only represent 1% of the annual red tuna catch when compared to large fishing companies. Why should the common man be punished because of the Man’s carelessness? Furthermore, the amateur fishers argue that they use fishing rods, rather than the large nets that the companies use to bring in huge catches.
It’s interesting to note that the organization of fishers says 200 protesters were present, when the police claim there were only 100.
Now, I understand why people would want to fish as a hobby, but I don’t understand why they need to fish the red tuna. It’s obviously a species in danger, so why not fish another species for sport? Bass are perfectly good fish aren’t they?
And 1% of the annual catch may be small, but it’s still 1% too much!
But alas, I’m neither a fisher nor a red tuna, so I suppose the argument has nothing to do with me. However, I do care about species diversity!
Vive le thon rouge!
Banning it for large companies and not “amateur fishermen” would be silly. It’s a profitable fish (Japan is addicted), but only for the companies – so, you’re right, they can just find some trout while “the Man” suffers.
Unfortunately, there’s no ban in Spain, and they contribute heavily to the problem. So, if anything, the French Green Peace should start a protest there.