Pacific bluefin tuna management

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.

Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency and the NGOs like WWF, Pew, Greenpeace and Sustainable Fisheries Partnership have been very vocal of the failure of the Northern Committee to make progress on this critical issue.

Director General of FFA James Movick told Pacific journalists in Nadi yesterday (Wednesday) that the Northern Committee has been ‘very resistant’.