Tuna conservation body begins talks

Wednesday 26th March, 01:04 PM JST

TOKYO —

An international tuna conservation body began a two-day informal talks in Tokyo on Wednesday to discuss possible cuts in quotas to help restore the stock of bluefin tuna in the eastern Atlantic Ocean. Participants at the meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas are expected to agree on setting lower quotas with respect to scientific studies so as to combat the declining stock of the fish caused by overfishing.

The ICCAT has already decided to gradually cut the allowable catch of bluefin tuna in the eastern Atlantic Ocean including the Mediterranean to 25,500 tons in 2010 from 29,500 tons for 2007. But the science committee of the body urges a cut in the annual catch of the valued fish to around 15,000 tons. The bluefin tuna, especially coveted in Japan by sushi and other restaurants, is feared to disappear completely from the oceans, the main fishing ground for the species, under the current state.

9 Comments

frontandcentre at 01:26 PM JST - 26th March

Funny - mention hunting a small and sustainable number of certain whale species and you get super-long threads with impassioned debate about how awfully cruel it is. Here however we have the humble tuna actually being seriously and unsustainably overfished on a mass scale and .... no debate at all.

Species-ism and misguided priorities all round, I'd say. What a pity for the tuna they aren't cuter...
cleo at 01:44 PM JST - 26th March

Done this before. Tuna are cute. Don't let me have to take another post to you, young front. :-)

There's a dearth of posts all round since the makeover (except for the complaints thread). Probably people either can't find their way around, or have gone off to do something else until things get better.

As for the tuna quota - tuna are seriously threatened with extinction, and the obvious choice of 'let's not kill them any more AT ALL for a while' gets no air space whatsoever? The best they can manage is a lousy 14% cut?
roomtemperature at 03:02 PM JST - 26th March

Cleo, Please study the difference between extinction and overfishing. You will see you were a bit of the mark.
roomtemperature at 03:02 PM JST - 26th March

"off"....of course..;)
nutsagain at 03:08 PM JST - 26th March

Nothing to do with 'cute'. This is a question of overusing resources big, small, cute or otherwise.

No 'passionate' factor either just commonsense. Or do we keep on destroying the oceans with plastic? Which unless incinerated is indestructible and in the oceans which then breaks down into small pieces that plankton eating fish cannot distinguish from the real thing. Every piece of plastic that's ever been made is still around and a lot of it is in the oceans.

And where does most of the tuna finish up? As cat food, thats where. God, what a mad world...
timorborder at 03:39 PM JST - 26th March

Japan? Tuna quotas? No mention here of the fraud they conducted with regard to Southern Bluefin catches. Expecting Japan to conform with tuna quotas is like asking Charlie Manson to look after the kids.
nutsagain at 03:46 PM JST - 26th March

The link, sorry. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJvifVrGi8o
cleo at 04:46 PM JST - 26th March

Roomtemp - "The bluefin tuna ..... is feared to disappear completely from the oceans" Don't dat mean 'extinction'? I thought the overfishing was a given.

nuts - There was a feature on telly about pulverised plastic in the oceans. I'm not at all religious, but the thought that went through my mind was 'Forgive them, for they know not what they do....'
nutsagain at 05:24 PM JST - 26th March

Then we do indeed share the same prayer...