Seeking to meet an international requirement, the National Marine Fisheries Service is exploring and gathering ideas for ways to minimize the waste of discarded bluefin tuna — the most prized of all fin fish and the species most fiercely fought over by fishermen and environmentalists.
Among the options discussed in a scoping document is commodifying the market to trade in bluefin catch shares, adopting the controversial management system that now rules the New England ground fishery.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration last year denied an application to put the global migrator on the endangered species list. But bluefin remain a NOAA species of concern and is on a watch list “about its status and threats to the species,” according to the NMFS “scoping document,” which discusses possible solutions to U.S. management of the tuna.
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