TAKE-ACTION TOOLBOX #1: Bluefin Boycott

The bluefin tuna, one of the world’s most remarkable ocean creatures, is in trouble and needs your help. Overfishing is driving this mighty warm-blooded fish toward the brink of extinction, and yet many sushi restaurants continue to serve it.

The Bluefin Brigade was founded by the Center to reduce consumer demand for imperiled bluefin tuna. Please sign our pledge today not to eat bluefin tuna and to boycott restaurants that advertise it on their menu. Then use the tools in this toolbox to take more action.

Too often viewed only as sushi, the bluefin tuna is an extraordinary specimen of ocean wildlife, growing up to 10 feet long and weighing as much as 1,200 pounds. Unlike almost all fish, bluefin tuna can regulate their body temperature, which helps during their epic 60-day journeys across the Atlantic.  With streamlined bodies and retractable fins, bluefin can bolt through the water at speeds of up to 50 miles per hour. Unfortunately, the Atlantic bluefin tuna has declined by more than 80 percent due to overfishing since 1970. And in spring 2010, the bluefin took a major hit at the height of its spawning season: Scientists estimate that BP’s massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico killed more than 20 percent of juvenile western Atlantic bluefin tuna this year.

Right now, the National Marine Fisheries Service is deciding whether to list the Atlantic bluefin tuna under the Endangered Species Act in response to a Center for Biological Diversity petition. Join the Bluefin Boycott today.