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Japan to halve tuna catch in northern Pacific

18 Comments

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18 Comments
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Unbelievable, they finally talk sense...

1 ( +5 / -4 )

I am pleasantly surprised, and very much encouraged, that Japan has taken this move — very responsible and commendable.

Now, as mentioned in the last sentence of the article, I hope Japan's efforts do in fact encourage other nations to follow suit.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

Why juvenile only? Because they are probably 100% contaminated with plutonium poisoning from Fukushima.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

No other poorer nations will catch more and sell to Japan. If only the could do something about the whale now.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Japan consumes 80% of the worldwide tuna catch.. The Atlantic tuna population has already been severely depleted and the Pacific population is hurting as well.. I read an article a while back talking about the total Pacific tuna catch annually which was/is around 18,000 tons of that total Japan took 14,000 tons .. It also stated that the US asked Japan to scale back their Pacific tuna haul by 25%.. So the 15% decrease is rather stark in comparison but hey it's a start.. Another poster made a great point however that Japan will just by up another countries haul to make up for the decrease in their own..

@Sensato- I don't think other countries are the problem on this issue.. It's those other countries who have been begging and pleading with Japan over the years to scale back their operations, to no avail until now..

0 ( +3 / -3 )

Kinki Daigaku has a fish farm where they can produce tuna from eggs. They sell to department stores and they also have a popular restaurant in Ginza. Right now they are only selling about 3 tuna, twice a week, but hopefully they'll be able to up their production dramatically in the coming years.

2 ( +4 / -2 )

Yeah, it does seem like a good thing, but even if tuna fishing was banned for ten years it would make very little difference. The populations of tuna have been decimated and will never recover.

-4 ( +1 / -5 )

bluesea67 said: No other poorer nations will catch more and sell to Japan.

Poorer nations? Try Australia.

Australia's Southern Bluefin Tuna quota has been increased for the next four years. ... The 2014 quota for Australia will be just over 5,000 tonnes, an increase of 500 tonnes over last year.

and

The commission agreed to a 20 per cent increase to the quota over the next two years, lifting it to 5665 tonnes - the highest catch limit since 1989.

The increase comes on top of a 32 per cent lift to the quota for the 2011 to 2013 catch.

Port Lincoln fisherman Marcus Stehr, 48, welcomed the increase in the fishing quota, saying there was no question tuna stocks were thriving.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/bluefin-tuna-fishing-quotas-to-rise-to-80s-levels/story-fn59niix-1226742029383

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Face-saving and self-serving measure at best for Japan. What is conveniently ignored here is that Japan gets the vast majority of its blue fin tuna from catches in the Atlantic and Meditterranean, and, just a few years back, when Monaco I believe, led a fight to stop the over-fishing going on in the Mediterranean, Japan led the opposition. When Japan takes a responsible, world-wide position, and not just in their own back yard, I'll be impressed.

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

They speak only about pacific area. The most tuna consumed in japan is from Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea . So they are going to catch more in the Atlantic to compensate the reduction on the pacific side? Meaningless speech, just pretend being ecological.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

H'mmmm, sounds good on paper, BUT we will need to look at global numbers because if Japan is just planning to buy more from other sellers it may mean diddly squat!

NOW if Japan CUT its consumption in sushi joints & izakaya in Japan by a significant margin then & ONLY THEN can it be said Japan is doing something!!

To me something smells...............well fishy, don't be easily fooled!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

well this is a half measure though. A full moratorium will become necessary

0 ( +0 / -0 )

...amid international concerns...

Are the Japanese not concerned about it? They better should too...

0 ( +0 / -0 )

What about the fishermen who will lose profit on the catch? Will they be compensated or just told to suck it up? And how will you monitor them to ensure they are not bringing in the usual amount and just selling the 'surplus' under the counter? I don't think it's as simple as people think...

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Japanese have to stop eating tuna, they represent the largest percent of consumption. Making it seasonal rather than daily would be a start, so that it lasts. The fisheries need time to recover, and not just tuna

0 ( +0 / -0 )

House Atreides Yes Australia isn't a poorer nation But At least they recognised way back in the eighties that we had issue with Tuna stocks I recall There was a lot of trouble with japan coming down and raiding our fish. Japan is on its way out the population is decreasing it will lose 20 million people in the next ten years so Lucky for the Tuna that Japanese couples have stop having babies.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I had not realized what kind of an issue this was until I saw the documentary "Jiro Dreams of Sushi". At one part, his son is talking about the issues concerning the size and stocks of the Tuna. I'm glad Japan is finally taking a bit of initiative and charging headfirst into this problem. Hope they follow through! I'd like to enjoy tuna for the rest of my life :)

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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