Tuna bouncing back but sharks face extinction due to overfishing

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Four commercially-fished tuna species are on the path to recovery thanks to the enforcement of regional fishing quotas over the last decade, according to today’s update of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ released at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Marseille, France.</p>
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However, the recovery comes in the midst of growing pressures on marine species, with 37% of the world’s sharks and rays now threatened with extinction primarily due to overfishing, compounded by loss and degradation of habitat and climate change. This shows that effective management measures are lacking throughout much of the world's oceans.</p>
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Today’s IUCN Red List update is a powerful sign that, despite increasing pressures on our oceans, species can recover if states truly commit to sustainable practices,” said Dr Bruno Oberle, IUCN Director General.</p>
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In today’s Red List update, the seven most commercially fished tuna species were reassessed. Four of them showed signs of recovery thanks to countries enforcing more sustainable fishing quotas and successfully combating illegal fishing.</p>
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The Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) moved from Endangered to Least Concern while the Southern bluefin tuna (Thunnus maccoyii) moved from Critically Endangered to Endangered. The albacore (Thunnus alalunga) and yellowfin tunas (Thunnus albacares) both moved from Near Threatened to Least Concern.</p>
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However, despite global improvement at the species level, many regional tuna stocks remain severely depleted. For example, while the larger, eastern population of Atlantic bluefin tuna, which originates in the Mediterranean, has increased by at least 22% over the last four decades, the species’ smaller native western Atlantic population, which spawns in the Gulf of Mexico, has declined by more than half in the same period. The yellowfin tuna meanwhile continues to be overfished in the Indian Ocean.</p>