When research kills
THE nation that introduced 'scientific whaling' has now started 'research fishing'. In defiance of an agreement with Australia and New Zealand, Japan's fisheries agency has begun catching southern blue fin tuna outside the normal fishing season and beyond the normal quota, reportedly to gather data on stocks of the prized delicacy.
The Commission for the Conservation of Southern Blue fin Tuna allows Japan to catch 6,065 tonnes of southern blue fin in the Indian Ocean every year. But the fourth annual meeting of the commission, which began on September last year was adjourned in February 1998 without reaching an agreement. Japan wanted to increase its quota by 25 per cent but fisheries experts from Australia and New Zealand argued that such an increase could make the southern blue fin extinct by the year 2020. The fish is classified as "critically endangered" by the World Conservation Union (IUCN).
Japan's Fisheries Agency says it has sent 65 boats to catch southern bluefin tuna in the southeast Indian Ocean. "We expect to sample around 1,400 tonnes," says Joji Morishita, a senior official at the agency. "This tuna will be utilised in the same way as commercial tuna in order not to waste this precious resource." In other words, it will be sent back to Japan and sold at the market price of US $19 to US $25 per kg to be eaten.
The normal fishing season begins in September, but the Japanese vessels are going out seven weeks early to conduct their "research". They will catch tuna using lines several kilometres long, with up to 3,000 hooks each. "The boats' licences as commercial vessels will be frozen and they will be licensed by the government temporarily as research vessels," Morishita informs. "At the end of August, the sample tuna will be inspected." The same boats will then return to the fishing grounds to take their normal commercial catches. Japan says it wants to show that blue fin tuna are more widespread than Australia claims. The "research" boats will be fishing in an area of the Indian Ocean that has not been fished in the recent years.
The Australian government is incensed by what it sees as a cynical move to increase commercial catches under the pretext of scientific research. "Japan's decision to go ahead with the experimental fishing programme is short-sighted and will reduce the chance that the stock will recover from its present depleted state," says Warwick Parer, Australia's; resources and energy minister.
Australia has already taken action against Japan. It has banned Japanese long-line vessels from its ports after the collapse of the talks in February and has also excluded these boats from its 320-km offshore economic zone.
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