The Atlantic bluefin tuna is one of the largest, fastest, and most gorgeously colored of all the world’s fishes. Their torpedo-shaped, streamlined bodies are built for speed and endurance. Their coloring—metallic blue on top and shimmering silver-white on the bottom—helps camouflage them from above and below. And their voracious appetite and varied diet pushes their average size to a whopping 6.5 feet (2 meters) in length and 550 pounds (250 kilograms), although much larger specimens are not uncommon.
Unfortunately for the species however, bluefin meat also happens to be regarded as surpassingly delicious, particularly among sashimi eaters, and overfishing throughout their range has driven their numbers to critically low levels.
Atlantic bluefins are warm-blooded, a rare trait among fish, and are comfortable in the cold waters off Newfoundland and Iceland, as well as the tropical waters of the Gulf of Mexico and the Mediterranean Sea, where they go each year to spawn. They are among the most ambitiously migratory of all fish, and some tagged specimens have been tracked swimming from North American to European waters several times a year.
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http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/fish/bluefin-tuna.html~~~~
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/10/bluefin-tuna-quotas-substantially-reduced-european-union-next-year.phpBluefin Tuna Quotas May Be Substantially Reduced by EU Next Year
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY on 10.21.10
A quick update on the plight of Atlantic bluefin tuna and what's being done to stop them from
going extinct in literally a couple of years due to overfishing: Economic Times reports that the European Commission has indicated it may substantially cut next year's quota of the critically endangered fish.
The current catch limit is 13,500 tons, with actual catches due to rampant under-reporting and poaching closer to 60,000 tons. WWF has recommended a quota of less than 6,000 tons.
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