Japanese tuna fishermen halt operations to boost stock

Yahoo News 1 Aug 08;

Japanese tuna fishermen on Friday temporarily suspended operations in a bid to revive stocks that are rapidly declining under pressure from a worldwide sushi craze, officials said.

Tuna vessels from Japan's largest fisheries cooperative are taking part in the suspension.

Some 230 longline vessels, accounting for 60 percent of such ships in Japan, will stay ashore for a total of two months spaced out across the next two years, an official at the cooperative said.

The suspension is expected to cut by five percent the catch of tuna on Japanese vessels, a cooperative official said.

"The main reason of our suspension is sluggish fishing offshore," the cooperative said in its website.

The move is part of coordinated efforts with fishermen in China, Taiwan and South Korea to recover tuna stock, it said.

Tuna stocks across the world have fallen dramatically in recent years as more people around the world take a liking to sushi and sashimi, reputed to be healthy.

The European Commission in June closed early the industrial bluefin tuna fishing season in the Mediterranean over fears that quotas were being filled too quickly.

The Japanese fishing cooperative said it also hoped to draw public attention to the problem of surging fuel costs.

Last month, thousands of Japanese fishermen kept their boats idle in a one-day strike to protest against the high price of fuel.

In response, the government on Tuesday announced an emergency 690-million-dollar package to help the country's fishermen.

Tuna fishing suspended in Japan
BBC News 1 Aug 08;

Tuna fishermen from Japan's largest fisheries co-operative have suspended operations temporarily in a bid to replenish dwindling stocks of the fish.

About 230 Japanese vessels will stop fishing for periods totalling more than two months over the next two years.

Tuna stocks globally have fallen dramatically in recent years as more people opt to eat sushi and sashimi in an effort to be more healthy.

The suspension is expected to cut Japan's catch of tuna by 5%.

"The main reason for our suspension is sluggish fishing offshore," the co-operative said in its website.

The suspension will mean that almost two-thirds of Japan's longline tuna vessels will stay ashore for short periods at a time over the next two years.

The BBC's Chris Hogg in Tokyo says that in itself will not be enough to restore stock levels, but Japan says co-ordinating the action with similar bodies in China, South Korea and Taiwan will maximise its impact.

Japan has by far the largest tuna fleet in the world and the Japanese are the world's biggest consumers of fish.

Our correspondent says global demand for Japanese seafood delicacies like sushi and sashimi is also growing, leaving environmentalists deeply concerned.

Activists say even greater restrictions on fishing are needed and consumers should be given more information about the problem of sustainability.

Otherwise, they say, the species will not survive.