A voluntary annual cap on bluefin tuna catches was introduced in July 2016 on a trial basis. However, the results of a bluefin tuna resource control survey, which the agency released on Feb. 3, showed that some fishermen violated the limit in eight prefectures, including Shizuoka and Kumamoto, in addition to Mie and Nagasaki prefectures where similar cases had been confirmed earlier.
In Shizuoka Prefecture, four fishermen allegedly caught a total of 1.5 metric tons of bluefin tuna without permission.
