Scientists Try to Save Bluefin

Bluefin tuna can grow to three-quarters of a ton, traverse the Atlantic in less than a month, and are growing rapidly extinct—thanks to fishing practices that are "totally out of control," one US official said. Marine biologists who track Bluefin populations are finding their suggestions rejected by world governments. “We know enough to save this species,” one conservationist said. “We don’t have the will.”

Scientists have jacked up pressure since learning that Atlantic bluefin come in two species, making each group smaller and more endangered. Yet officials set fishing quotas at nearly double scientists' suggestions, and fishermen top them by 50%—little wonder when the fish can fetch more than $170,000 per fish, the Washington Post reports. (More Atlantic Ocean stories.)