The rising popularity of sushi, overfishing to supply increasing demand and imperfect management of the fishery have caused the collapse of the Atlantic bluefin tuna stock.

Globalization and the air freight industry, technological advances within a fishing industry that lacks an effective management strategy are all constructs in a supply chain that provides an ever increasing worldwide appetite for Atlantic bluefin tuna (ABT). This set of circumstances surrounding the ABT is leading the fishery to a point of immediate collapse. At a time of ever dwindling catches and subsequent calls for moderation of resources, governing organizations such as International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) ignore scientific data and bow to demands of international fishing consortiums. This short term planning, profit driven mismanagement continues, but dramatically provides fewer fish to sushi restaurants that have become more upscale. Wealthier clientele are able to pay ever-increasing prices for this prize meat,1 (Safina C.; Klinger D.H.) but even lower grades of the intensely rich meat are being ordered ravenously by sushi diners worldwide, effectively ordering the Atlantic bluefin tuna off the menu.