A species sinks

Blame it on the sushi. The rising popularity of the Japanese delicacy has brought the northern bluefin tuna to the brink of extinction, while at the same time profoundly altering the dynamics of fishing in the Mediterranean. On June 9, the European Commission closed the Mediterranean bluefin tuna season, which had opened just three weeks earlier, because the annual quota had already been caught — predominantly by the ultra-efficient industrial fishing vessels sailed by Spain and France. At 13,500 tonnes, the 2010 quota was already set 40 percent lower than 2009 — a concession to environmental organizations, which had argued for a complete ban on bluefin fishing this year. For them, the European Union’s decision to halt bluefin fishing is too little, too late. The Mediterranean’s stock of bluefin has shrunk to less than 15 percent of its original size due to overfishing. “Bluefin tuna must be given a break,”