Japan to Allot Extra Bluefin Tuna Catch Quota

July 22, 2018

Tokyo- Japan's Fisheries Agency plans to allot an additional catch quota of 373.2 tons to coastal fishers of big bluefin tuna weighing 30 kilograms or more, officials said Friday.

The agency explained the plan at a meeting with the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. The plan will be implemented around the end of August.

The agency will allocate 40 pct of the amount to Nagasaki Prefecture, southwestern Japan, the northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido and Aomori Prefecture in the country's northeast.

Coastal fishing quotas currently stand at 732.7 tons in total for the period from July to March 2019.

But coastal fishers, many of whom are small businesses, complain that their quotas are far smaller than those allotted to offshore fishers who use round haul nets enabling large catches.

This time, the agency will also grant an additional quota of 51.8 tons to offshore fishers.

Of the total amount allotted to coastal fishers, Nagasaki will be given the biggest share, with 58.6 tons, followed by Hokkaido with 51.4 tons and Aomori with 39.8 tons.

Japan sets catch limits on coastal and offshore fishing based on an international agreement for tuna resources management.

This month, the agency started a system to allocate a coastal catch quota for large bluefin tuna prefecture by prefecture.

The agency sets the overall catch quota 664.1 tons below the catch limit of 4,627 tons set for Japan so that the country can keep its international promise on tuna fishing control. The planned extra quotas will be allocated from the unused portion.

Also on Friday, the agency said total catches of small bluefin tuna weighing less than 30 kilograms in the latest season through last month totaled 3,405.4 tons, below the country's limit of 3,423.5 tons.

Japan stood below the limit for the first time in two years. This happened after the agency asked coastal fishers to reduce their operations. Jiji Press