Japan to introduce own measures for tuna control

Japan will introduce its own set of measures for controlling the catch of Pacific bluefin tuna, in line with the global effort to protect tuna resources.

Japan accounts for more than 70 percent of the bluefin tuna catch in the Pacific.

The Fisheries Agency plans to draw up a resource recovery program by the end of March next year, and to hold fishermen and fish farmers liable starting in April.

Round haul netters will be asked to suspend activity during spawning season, and catch only tuna of a certain size. Trawlers will be obliged to report on the amount of tuna they caught, but could become eligible for income compensation.

The agency will oblige fish farmers to register their tuna hatcheries, and step up study of how bluefin tuna spawn and grow in the East China Sea.

Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species discussed a possible ban on bluefin trade at their meeting in Doha, Qatar, in March.

But the ban was voted down by Japan and scores of developing countries