Friday, December 18, 2009

The Dark Side of Farmed Tuna 2009

Like moths to candle light, white sharks are attracted to tuna pens worldwide in alarming numbers.

This week another in a series of images from 2009 featuring dead and dying white sharks being taken from commercial tuna pens in October.

While farmed tuna is being hailed as a viable alternative to wild caught tuna in many regions the accidental by catch of great whites that seek these pens out as an easy food source is an issue that needs to be addressed.

Most of the images we have seen are of breeding aged adults, which begs the question, are there no industry wide anti-shark protocols that are in place to save these animals?

We think there are. The lack of interest in this issue and the threat of boycott of farmed tuna products are twin barriers to real and lasting eco change.

Hopefully 2010 will see fewer images like these.

More on shark conservation - One Shark.

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