Japan’s Proposal on Bluefin Tuna Quotas Fails to Be Adopted

Nagasaki, July 14 (Jiji Press)–A series of international conferences to discuss the management of Pacific bluefin tuna stocks ended in the southwestern Japan city of Nagasaki on Tuesday without adopting Japan’s proposal to expand the catch quota for large fish, due to Mexico’s opposition. Japan proposed raising the catch quota for Pacific bluefin tuna weighing 30 kilograms or more in the western and central Pacific from the current 11,869 tons to 14,836 tons for 2027 and beyond, while reducing the quota for smaller fish from 5,125 tons to 4,823 tons. On the final day of the conferences, Mexico suddenly called for increasing the quota in the eastern Pacific and opposed a draft agreement based on Japan’s proposal. Japan now aims to hold talks on the quotas in the eastern and western Pacific by the time when the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission, which includes Mexico and the United States and oversees the eastern Pacific, holds an annual meeting in late August. However, tough negotiations are expected, and no agreements may be reached. In this case, the current quotas would be maintained. In Japan’s fishing waters, bluefin tuna stocks have significantly increased thanks to conservation measures. This, however, is causing catches exceeding the quotas and forcing Japanese fishers to release some fish and refrain from fishing. Bluefin tuna stocks dropped to 12,275 tons in 2010 due to overfishing but rebounded to 144,483 tons in 2022. The recovery is also affecting the fishing of mackerel and other fish. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]