wild places | wild happenings | wild news
make a difference for our wild places

home | links | search the site
  all articles latest | past | articles by topics | search wildnews
wild news on wildsingapore
  PlanetArk 14 Aug 06
Australian Official Says Japan Breached Tuna Quota

AUSTRALIA: August 14, 2006 SYDNEY - A senior Australian fisheries official said Japan had illegally taken A$2 billion (US$1.53 billion) of prized southern bluefin tuna over the past 20 years in breach of quota restrictions, local media reported on Saturday.

An investigation found Japanese fishermen and suppliers from other countries caught up to three times the Japanese quota each year for 20 years, the Sydney Morning Herald reported the official as saying. Australian Fisheries Management Authority managing director Richard McLoughlin made the comments in a seminar to students at the Australian National University on Aug. 1, which was later posted on the internet, the paper said.

"It's just been revealed that ... on a 6,000-tonne national quota, Japan's been catching anything between 12,000 and 20,000 tonnes for the last 20 years, and hiding it. And that has probably killed the stock," the paper quoted him as saying.

"Essentially, the Japanese have stolen A$2 billion worth of fish from the international community and have been sitting in meetings for 15 years saying they are as pure as the driven snow."

Quotas for each season's southern bluefin fishing are allotted by the Commission for Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna, comprising Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan and South Korea.

The total 2005 quota was 14,080 tonnes, while Japan's quota was 6,065 tonnes. The newspaper said the overfishing figures were contained in a report that was presented at an international meeting in Canberra in July, but which remained confidential.

One of the world's most expensive fish, southern bluefin migrate around the temperate waters of southern Australia and grow to about 200 kilograms.

McLoughlin later told the newspaper he had nothing to add to his comments. A spokesman for Australia's Fisheries Minister Eric Abetz said the report was being considered, and declined to comment further.
links
Related articles on Wild shores
about the site | email ria
  News articles are reproduced for non-profit educational purposes.
 

website©ria tan 2003 www.wildsingapore.com