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Tibetan Science Popularization | Small tuna, insatiable appetite

author:Knowledge is Power Magazine

Author: Zhou Jinfeng, Zhang Siyuan, Song Qiyu, Wang Qinan

Source: Knowledge is Power magazine

Tibetan Science Popularization | Small tuna, insatiable appetite
Tibetan Science Popularization | Small tuna, insatiable appetite
Tibetan Science Popularization | Small tuna, insatiable appetite

Lift the tuna

What comes to mind?

Tuna rice balls in convenience stores

Tibetan Science Popularization | Small tuna, insatiable appetite

Image source: Baidu Encyclopedia

Canned tuna in ordinary people's meals?

Tibetan Science Popularization | Small tuna, insatiable appetite

Image source: Baidu Encyclopedia

Or the nobility in Japanese cuisine?

sashimi

Tibetan Science Popularization | Small tuna, insatiable appetite

Image source: Baidu Encyclopedia

But you wouldn't think that humans are only for their own appetite, and more than 97% of bluefin tuna are caught before the age of 3, and then served on the table and become a popular food for human beings.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the number of tuna caught in the world each year is close to 6 million tons. Strong demand, coupled with the sheer number of fishing vessels, put tuna stocks under enormous pressure.

Tibetan Science Popularization | Small tuna, insatiable appetite

Bluefin tuna that didn't grow up

Bluefin tuna is an oceanic migratory fish, the largest species of tuna, and is also a collective term for several tuna with blue fins that live in different waters. They are found in temperate and tropical waters of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans and are at the top of the marine food chain.

They are lean, with their tail fins crossed like a torpedo with a sports car's tail fin, and they also have an "automatic body temperature constant function" – due to the rich network of blood vessels on both sides of the body, they can keep their body temperature above the surrounding water temperature. These advantages allow them to win the "swimming speed champion" in different water layers in the ocean, and at the same time, they can not be afraid of "high energy consumption" to keep the vital signs functioning normally, and if the great white shark wants to hunt them, it must also be prepared to undergo the double test of endurance and speed.

However, bluefin tuna does not dominate the ocean. The natural lifespan of these large fish is about 50 years, but their own growth and reproduction is very slow, more than half of the bluefin tuna can not mature until 4 years after birth, and can only breed offspring after maturity, of which Atlantic and southern bluefin tuna even take 8-12 years to mature. The tragic reality is that because of humans, more than 97% of bluefin tuna are caught before the age of 3, and then served on the table and become a popular food for human beings.

Tibetan Science Popularization | Small tuna, insatiable appetite

Without wolves in the steppes, many herbivores lose their natural predators and multiply and nibble on vegetation, as do the oceans. On the one hand, bluefin tuna, with its speed and size advantages, can prey on small fish and crustaceans, avoiding these bottom species from multiplying too quickly and endangering the marine ecological balance; On the other hand, the extinction of this apex species will not only cause the endless catastrophic growth of some fish species, but also further cause ocean acidification, which in turn may lead to marine desertification.

As the apex of the food chain, humans have had a huge impact on many creatures. It's not wrong to eat, but it's worth reflecting on the fact that the animal population is getting smaller and smaller in order to eat it — we should learn to "subtract" from the menu and be merciful.

In nature, everything is connected and symbiotic, forming a healthy and delicate balance of ecosystems. As long as one of the links is broken, it is bound to affect the whole body and affect the stability of the ecosystem as a whole. Humans are also part of the ecosystem, and the indiscriminate consumption of other animals will eventually affect human beings themselves.

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