Japanese taste for the giant Mediterranean bluefin tuna has sparked a battle over the future of a crucial fishery and the survival of the species.

For millions of years the giant bluefin tuna has been one of the most successful predators in the ocean.

But the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) says serious overfishing has left the bluefin on the brink of extinction.

Some say they are being caught faster than they can reproduce. 
 
But who is to blame? And how can the threatened species be protected from greedy fishermen and sushi lovers?

Inside Story, with presenter Nick Clark, discusses with guests Allesandro Buzzi, a biologist at Feder-coopesca, an association representing the Italian fishing industry, Willie MacKenzie, an Oceans campaigner at Greenpeace, and Sunny Lewis, the editor in-chief of the Environment News Service.

This episode of Inside Story aired from Thursday, October 01, 2009.