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 journeys across the ocean.  With streamlined bodies and retractable fins, bluefin can bolt through the water at speeds of up to 50 miles per hour. Unfortunately, in January 2013 scientists released an assessment that estimated a 96.4 percent decline of Pacific bluefin tuna from unfished levels. The Atlantic bluefin tuna has declined by about 70 percent due to overfishing since 1970. And in spring 2010, the Atlantic bluefin took a hit at the height of its spawning season: Scientists estimate that BP's massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico killed 10 to 20 percent of juvenile western Atlantic bluefin.

In response to a Center for Biological Diversity petition, in 2011 the National Marine Fisheries Service added Atlantic bluefin tuna to the “species of concern” list and committed to reevaluating the effects of the oil spill on Atlantic bluefin in early 2013, in order to have more onformation available, and to then consider listing Atlantic bluefin tuna under the Endangered Species Act.

Join the Bluefin Boycott today.