Take Marlin Off The Menu!

It’s pretty much common knowledge now that many of the worlds greatest fish are in low supply thought the world. It’s not really surprising though, fish like swordfish and marlin taste great, and people love to eat. Eventually things need to change though, or species like marlin will be fishing to extinction. Enter, Take Marlin Off The Menu, a group of concerned citizens who want to make sure that doesn’t happen. How? By taking marlin off the menu of course! It’s an idea so simple, it may just work.

Why stop eating billfish?

1. Marlin populations throughout the world are being wiped out by commercial overfishing. Most marlin mortality is a result of incidental bycatch, in which marlin are caught by commercial fishermen targeting tuna, swordfish, and other types of fish. With millions of hooks and many miles of nets in the water, marlin and other billfish don’t stand a chance.

2. Marlin and other billfish populations are not sustainable based on current demand. Their decline is being fueled by the demand for marlin meat among consumers, which corresponds with the overall growing demand for seafood both in the United States as well as throughout the world. Unlike catfish and tilapia and other “farm-raised” seafood, marlin can’t be farm-raised, and therefore can’t keep up with the demand. Besides, farming top ocean predators actually results in a net loss of available seafood because the diets required to rear carnivorous fish are comprised mostly of wild-caught fish. It would be analogous to raising lions or tigers in pens for human consumption.

3. Marlin may be harmful to eat. Marlin and billfish often contain unhealthy levels of mercury and other toxins that may be harmful to humans who regularly eat marlin, billfish and other large fish predators.

Works for me, I don’t think I’ve ever eaten marlin before!