japan says it won't comply with bluefin tuna ban

[surferman]

Agreed. The only way to get them to comply is through their money belt.

[Rip-Plugger]

So,mighty japan won't adhere to the ban,,,such would be expected as they have "research" to kill whales for study,,actually they sell whale meat on their open market.

1 humpback whale is worth a bit more than 1 million bucks to them.I believe they are allowed to take 50 whales of either 1 species or multiple species.
I do know they kill sei whales and minki[not sure of the selling] whales too.

when I first heard about this ban thing,I KNEW japan would not be any part of it.
perhaps they will start netting/eating bunkers after the bluefins go extinct.
at any rate,they are the worst overfishers on earth and they don't support their own future 'er join in to help save.
I don't know if it's the people as a whole or a scant few that want money but hell,it could be their govt thats against it.
anyhow,our bluefin is in big trouble and those that exploit them and others need to step up and save their [the fishs']race.

I remember when I was in 7th grade,as I was a fisherman then,my science and history teachers were too.
we made an after school fishing club.

that was my first wading experience and it was great,2 fat choppers on a gold creek chub popper.
my teachers would also show b&w flims on fishing and one was bluefin tuna.
they were monsters to,some topped out at 13 feet long and most were around 8-9 feet.
what beasts they were.
they fed on bluefish and I was amazed at the sheer size of them,like a submarine.

now,,,,well you know the deal,the best I ever saw was 667 pounds on a hook in Sng Harbor Rhode Island,I don't know how long it was but it took my breath away.

anyhoo,I hope fate or god 'er whatever intervenes and keeps this monster alive 'cause japan would take the very last one if they could!!!!!!!


R-P

[jonthepain]

those sob's.

"We Japanese eat tuna."

not for long

[DarkSkies]

TOKYO, March 19, 2010 Japan Welcomes Failure of Tuna Fishing Ban

World's Biggest Consumer of Atlantic Bluefin Avoids Global Ban, But Agrees to Restrict Overfishing

• A chef at a sushi bar near Tokyo's Tsukiji fish market holds up a dish of hand-rolled tuna sushi on March 19, 2010. (Kyodo via AP Images)

(AP) Japanese fish dealers on Friday welcomed the rejection of a proposed trade ban on Atlantic bluefin tuna - a prized ingredient of sushi - while urging that existing quotas be more strictly enforced to protect the species from overfishing.

Thursday's vote at a U.N. meeting in Doha, Qatar, rejecting the ban was front-page news in all major Japanese newspapers Friday morning.

Japan consumes about 80 percent of the world's Atlantic bluefin tuna, and the possibility of a ban had consumers and fish wholesalers worried that prices for the pink and red meat of the fish - called "hon-maguro" here - would soar or that it might even vanish from some menus.

Stocks of the fish have fallen by 60 percent from 1997 to 2007, and environmentalists argue that a trading ban imposed by the 175-nation Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, or CITES, would protect the fish.

But environmentalists say ICCAT has repeatedly failed to enforce catch limits - and that the quotas themselves are insufficient.

"ICCAT is not able to manage sustainable fishing," said Wakao Hanaoka, ocean campaigner with Greenpeace in Tokyo.

"For Japanese consumers, this is the wrong direction," he added. "Consumers here love to eat sushi and want to pass this along to the next generation, but what the Japanese government is doing is totally opposite to this."

A major daily, the Asahi newspaper, also wondered about the future of the declining bluefin.

"How will various countries cooperate to manage tuna resources? The immediate crisis has passed, but the biggest issue remains unresolved," it said in an analysis.


http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/...n6313939.shtml

[DarkSkies]

Sent in by Rip-Plugger, thanks!
He informs me they're running a series on tuna, on the History Channel. Check it out if you get a chance.