August 9, 2017 โ The Trump administration on Tuesday chose not to list the Pacific bluefin tuna as an endangered species, rejecting a petition by the largest global conservation group that the U.S. is a member of, with France, South Korea, Australia, and several other countries.
The Commerce Departmentโs National Marine Fisheries Service announced the decision after a 12-month review of the request that started under the Obama administration.
In response, environmentalists are organizing an international boycott of sushi restaurants, decrying what they say is the startling reversal of the agencyโs original intent to list the tuna under the Obama administration.
The agency said that it looked at all factors affecting the bluefin tunaโs habitat, and based โon the best scientific and commercial data available โฆ and after taking into account efforts being made to protect the species, we have determined that listing of the Pacific bluefin tuna is not warranted,โ the agency said in a notice published in the Federal Register.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature had petitioned the U.S. government to list the tuna after assessing โthe status of Pacific bluefin tuna and categorized the species as โvulnerableโ in 2014, meaning that the species was considered to be facing a high risk of extinction in the wild,โ the notice read.