David @ Tokyo

Earlier this year there was quite a hoohaa when an Australian representative had his comments on a Southern Bluefin Tuna overfishing investigation leaked to the media. The CCSBT (The international management cooperative set up for southern bluefin tuna) homepage noted at the time that these matters were still under investigation.

The CCSBT has just concluded their 2006 meeting, and while their homepage hasn't been updated with any of the meeting information yet, the media is reporting that as expected the quota has been cut due to over-fishing attributed to Japanese operators (this was reported in the Japanese media earlier in the month). Reports indicate that Japanese operators are to bear the bulk of the cut to compensate for past over-fishing.

In 2005, Japan exceeded its 6,065 ton quota of southern bluefin tuna by 1,500 tons, which a Fisheries Agency official said had helped contribute to the decision that cut Tokyo's quota to 3,000 tons for five years from 2007.

"There is also a possibility that Japan may have overfished a bit in other years besides 2005 as well," the official added, citing surveys by fishing experts.

"Therefore we had no choice but to accept the decision."

Also:

The Fisheries Agency official blamed Japan's previous overfishing mainly on sloppy record-keeping, adding that fishing rules were toughened earlier this year to combat the practice.

Up until this year, Japanese ships sent in periodic reports on their catches to the Fisheries Agency, which declared the season over when the quota was met.

Under the new rules, which took effect in April, each fishing company was allotted a specific quota and will be required to tag each fish showing when and where it was caught.

Ships are also permitted to unload their catch only at specific harbors, with violations punished by forbidding ships from leaving harbor, up to two years' prison and a fine.

It is still too early to say how much Japan has fished this year, the official said, adding that Japan voluntarily cut its quota from 6,065 tons to 4,500 tons to make up for 2005's overfishing.

The Australian media is full of commentary (ABC, The Australian), reporting the story with a much more "Australian" (critical) slant than Reuters and other international media.

Naturally, over-fishing must be punished if we are to have properly and sustainably managed use of marine resources, so in recognising past over-fishing the Japanese government has taken the appropriate measures by a) putting in place new measures earlier this year to try to address the issue and b) accept cuts for the next 5 years to compensate.

However, the question for me is how will the Japanese government implement the cuts. Have they identified the operators who were responsible for the over-fishing? Or will the whole Japanese industry bear the cuts as a result? One hopes that the dirty operators can be traced.

Meanwhile, in the Japanese media reports are that the quota cut is certain to put upward pressure on SBT prices. Legal annual supply will be down to just 11,000 tonnes (twice the whale meat stockpile).

Interesting to note that the SBT is regarded as "Critically Endangered" by the IUCN, yet Australia is happy for fishing to continue, while on the other hand they protested loudly when Japan announced that it would issue scientific permits for just 50 "Endangered" Fin whale with the start of the JARPA II research programme.

In reality, apparently the "Critically endangered" designation is widely disputed and regarded as being misleadingly negative, but it's useful to point out Australian double standards on the use of marine resources.