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The eastern Atlantic bluefin tuna population was being caught at very high rates in the 1960s and a reportedly 18,000 metric tons of eastern Atlantic bluefin tuna were caught in 1964
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By the 1970s the eastern Atlantic bluefin tuna population had dropped 80%
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By the 1990s the demand for western Atlantic bluefin tuna was in full swing and was becoming overfished.
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By this point the eastern and western Atlantic bluefin tuna populations were struggling and the first legal attempt to slow the overfishing of Atlantic bluefin tuna began.
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Despite the new laws and mandates created in 1998 the Atlantic bluefin tuna continued to be overfished and it was apparent that the push to save the Atlantic bluefin tuna population needed to be stronger.
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In 2008 the ICCAT created an eastern Atlantic bluefin stock assessment that indicated that the population had dropped 60% since 1970
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Even stock assessments for the western bluefin tuna showed that the population is at only 36% of its already depleted 1970 level
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More mandates were passed in 2010, despite this illegal fishing continued and Atlantic bluefin tuna were caught at nearly the same rate.
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In 2012 a new stock assessment revealed that the Atlantic bluefin population had actually began to increase and indicated that the mandates that were being passed were a step in the right direction even if they seemed futile in conservation efforts.
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This meeting was held to inform governments of the steps needed to be taken to ensure the Atlantic bluefin tuna population continued to increase.
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Since the mandates passed in the early 2010s the Atlantic bluefin tuna population has see a steady increase as efforts to restore the population become stronger and more efficient.