GLAND, Switzerland, 19 April 2011: More than 40 species of marine fish currently found in the Mediterranean could disappear in the next few years, writes IUCN (Verdensunionen for Naturbevarelse) Tuesday.
According to a study for the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species on the status of marine fish in the Mediterranean Sea, almost half of the species of sharks and rays (cartilaginous fish) and at least 12 species of bony fish are threatened with extinction due to overfishing, marine habitat degradation (forringelse af deres levesteder) and pollution.
Commercial species like Bluefin Tuna (Thunnus thynnus), Dusky Grouper (Epinephelus marginatus), Sea Bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) or Hake (Merluccius merluccius) are considered threatened or Near Threatened with extinction at the regional level mainly due to overfishing.
– The Mediterranean and Eastern Atlantic population of the Atlantic Bluefin Tuna (Thunnus thynnus) is of particular concern. There has been an estimated 50 per cent decline in this species’ reproduction potential over the past 40 years due to intensive overfishing, says Kent Carpenter, IUCN Global Marine Species Assessment Coordinator.
– The lack of compliance with current quotas combined with widespread underreporting of the catch may have undermined conservation efforts for this species in the Mediterranean, notes he.
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