King of All Fish (2/28/2014)

The current issue of National Geographic magazine includes an excellent feature on the Atlantic bluefin tuna, whom Ernest Hemingway once called the “king of all fish.”  According to the article’s author, Kenneth Brower, bluefin tuna “are among the most overfished species on Earth.”  Nor are tuna the only fish disappearing.  As Brower bluntly puts it, “the oceans are dying.”  In related news, the National Geographic Channel recently began airing the third season of Wicked Tuna, irony be damned.  To be fair, the show’s creators are not to blame for a population nosedive several decades in the making, and they deserve credit for providing a surprisingly exhaustive summary of the historical and scientific issues related to bluefin tuna on their website.