Friday, April 30, 2010

It's maddening

A year and a half ago, I decided to declare a personal moratorium on eating tuna, because tuna stocks in the Mediterranean and Eastern Atlantic are dangerously overfished. Since then, the situation has gotten worse: tuna stocks are falling, but the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) has failed to list the bluefin tuna as an endangered species. So the situation is going to get even worse.

But now, there's another reason not to eat tuna, and especially not bluefin tuna: according to CBC News, bluefin tuna (and big eye tuna) have higher levels of mercury than other species of fish. Because they're at (well, near) the top of the food chain, the mercury gets concentrated in their tissues. So, while you're dutifully eating tuna to prevent a heart attack, you're probably giving yourself mercury poisoning, and will end up mad as a hatter.

Sushi, anyone?

(Thanks to The Economist and CBC News for the leads.)