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Can you eat Maine bluefin tuna with a clear conscience?
It s complicated, but here s a hint to tuna lovers: the news is good.
By Christine Burns Rudalevige
There is no silver bullet solution to managing the complicated Atlantic bluefin tuna fishery.
These slow-growing but lightning-fast fish are highly migratory, a fact that can skew regional stock assessments. Changing ocean water temperatures as a result of climate change mean that where these predators can find enough food to sustain their 500-pound bodies is also changing.
The age at which the fish reach sexual maturity can vary by as many as six years, making it difficult to gauge how stocks will rebound from overfishing. And the type of gear used to catch Atlantic bluefin ranges from single harpoons to multiple drifting longlines, a fact that divides the fishery into a dizzying array of sub-categories.