Forget Fur: New Celeb Cause Is Food

Endangered tuna yields to farmed variety, humbler fish

(NEWSER) - As bluefin gets ever closer to extinction and governments mull a ban on international trade in the prized tuna, some restaurants are taking it off the menu. Others are sticking with the old favorite because it's what customers expect, but converts embrace the change. “It forces me to be much more creative,” one chef tells the Boston Globe . “In my experience, if you stick to what you actually believe in, people will follow you.” More»

(NEWSER) - You might suspect a sushi restaurant that doesn’t specify what sort of tuna you’re eating of trying to pawn off an inferior species. Not so. Researchers using novel DNA barcoding technology found that though nearly a third of tuna sold in 31 US restaurants was the prized—and endangered—bluefin. But just 8 of the 22 bluefin samples were accurately labeled. More»

New quotas well above sustainable limit

(NEWSER) - The European Commission completed a deal this week cutting back on the fishing of bluefin tuna, the Economist reports, but not sharply enough to save the species, scientists argue. The deal gradually reduces the legal catch from 28,500 tons this year to 19,950 tons in 2010—but conservationists believe a limit of 15,000 tons next year is necessary. More»

Politicking produces bad management of big tuna

(NEWSER) - Bluefin tuna are disappearing from the Atlantic and Mediterranean because of overfishing and an ineffectual world agency that's failed in its sole mission of protecting the fish, the Economist reports. Up to 60,000 tons are hauled in each year, legally or otherwise, when the limit should long have been 15,000 tons. Even if fishing was halted now—and the current plan calls for only a gradual reduction—the population will collapse, a new report says. More»

UK conservation society puts briny salad-topper on ever-growing list of fish to avoid

(NEWSER) - Anchovies have made a list of "fish to avoid," the Guardian reports—and not for their salty pungency, but because overfishing has left stocks at unsustainable levels. The UK’s Marine Conservation Society—which ranks fish after assessing biology, stock status, and the impact of the farming or fishing method—gave its worst score of 5 to 69 fish, including North Sea cod and Atlantic salmon. More»