Japan Will Ignore Bluefin Tuna Ban, Says Fish Is Not 'Endangered To That Extent'

Treehugger:

According to the country's top fisheries negotiator, Masanori Miyahara, Japan will not join in any agreement to ban international trade in Atlantic bluefin tuna under the United Nations treaty on endangered species.

Read the whole story: Treehugger

Comments

[dannypt]

06:14 AM on 03/05/2010

To be fair, not that Americans are much different

[dannypt]

06:12 AM on 03/05/2010

The Japanese bring themselves great dishonor. I hope they choke on their irresponsible 'traditions'

[lungfish]

10:50 PM on 02/24/2010

The Japanese are accountable to nobody... Bluefin Tuna is loaded with mercury, just like dolphins are... You would think that health would win out over avoiding shame...

[Iowafarmgal]

08:49 PM on 02/24/2010

Nothing surprises me about the cruelty of the Japanese. I remember too well the stories told by WWII vets imprisoned by Japan. They haven't changed, they've just gotten better at masking their true feelings.
Their culture as a whole has a total disregard for wildlife and domestic animals. They butcher their retired race horses, one of which was a Kentucky Derby winner.

[Mike4Obama]

01:21 PM on 02/23/2010

They need to farm raise this stuff.

[ddpalmerr]

06:55 AM on 02/24/2010

That is just what the Japanese are doing, but Bluefin Tuna are dificult to farm raise for a number of reason. And breeding them in captivity is also problematic.

But there are a number of farms already and the Japanese government has spent billions and continues to spend millions more to improve the breeding and raising of Bluefin.

http://www.thefishsite.com/fishnews/8725/bluefin-tuna-farming-gaining-ground

[Crashcat]

11:12 PM on 02/22/2010

Why does this not surprise me. They ignore the problems with their Toyota's. Why would they care about a bluefin tuna. Once all the blue fin is gone they will start making Imitation bluefin.

[hippie4ever]

10:49 PM on 02/22/2010

The Japanese should eat less fish and become eco-conscious. I think the younger generation is, but their parents and grandparents will choose their palate over the planet nearly every time.

[ddpalmerr]

06:24 AM on 02/23/2010

And just what should they be eating in place of fish?

You do realize they are a relatively small rocky island with very little land on which to grow or raise food? Are you suggesting they base their food supply on imports from other countries that could, for any number of reasons, be cut of abruptly?

[kannadzuki]

09:26 AM on 02/23/2010

hippie4ever I'd like to see that happen, but eating seafood is a part of the cultural identity of Japan, and there is a strict pressure here to keep within cultural norms and not let anyone down within your family/workplace/school/club. Though younger people may indeed somewhat more liberal views, Japan is a very conservative country in most ways and youth can't vote until age 20. Besides, they DO love seafood here. Check it out:
http://whatjapanthinks.com/2009/01/08/fish-eating-and-vegetarian-statistics-in-japan/

ddpalmerr, I agree with you except that Japan is already importing most of its food from overseas. The self-sufficiency rate--40% of food being produced in Japan (and sold at a higher cost than imports) is a HUGE issue to people here, but the government's answer has been to protect the one sacred staple food; Japanese rice. (Paradoxically, the government is currently paying farmers NOT to grow rice in all their fields, but I digress...)

[quillsinister]

11:17 AM on 02/23/2010

Your question seems to suggest that you don't believe the species will never become extinct or driven to the point where it becomes a nonviable food source. A fishing ban is to allow the population to recover.

So what will the Japanese eat when these animals are gone entirely? They might as well face that now, instead of after the bluefin are gone.

Also, I lived in Japan for almost three years. I'm well aware of their limitations, but it's more than possible to eat an almost entirely vegetarian diet even in the heart of urban Nippon, saving things like meat and fish for occasional use. They just don't want to.

[MyVesta]

01:38 PM on 02/23/2010

Yes, I think the same should apply to citizens of the US, esp.

Even the younger generation in the US chooses "their palate over the planet".

[quillsinister]

06:00 PM on 02/22/2010

This isn't a surprise. It's absolutely amazing that the Japanese are willing to push a species to commercial (or actual) extinction rather than moderate their ways, not realizing that a temporary ban allows the numbers to recover while extinction means no more forever, no matter how inconvenient that is to your cultural precepts.

But it isn't a surprise. Like Americans with their bloated oil consumption, the Japanese will continue merrily along, totally oblivious to the impending tragedy until it's far too late.

Humans are so stupid.

[gjohnthehorrible]

08:17 PM on 02/22/2010

Maybe the japanese view the situation as not being the dire sky will fall on our head kind of situation.

[quillsinister]

08:29 PM on 02/22/2010

How many species have we in fact hunted to extinction? How many others have we pushed to the brink of extinction? The answers are many and many more, respectively. Several species of fish have been rendered "commercially extinct," where there are still some around, but not enough to bother going out for.

Sometimes, it isn't as bad as we think it will be. Other times, it is exactly that bad or worse. We have lain waste to our ocean fisheries, a reality many of us are blissfully oblivious to. It will stop before we push these animals past the point of no return or after there just aren't any more to catch.

I strongly suggest the former.

[CoolPapa]

01:32 AM on 02/23/2010

Quick, bury your head in the sand, place your fingers in your ears and pretend problems don't exist.

Science is scary, eh, horribly ignorant?

[ddpalmerr]

06:26 AM on 02/23/2010

Your right that is why Japan spends billions every year to try and establish a farmed tuna industry which would let the wild stock recover. They do it because they don't care right?

[dannypt]

06:18 AM on 03/05/2010

But the word Research on a Whaling Boat and its science right?

[altohone]

05:43 PM on 02/22/2010

Japan should support sustainable harvests as the largest consumer.

Their stance is unusually shortsighted and given their distance from the source, they'd do well to adopt a position their suppliers can support.
EU fishermen are now beginning to benefit from earlier conservation measures they at first opposed in other fisheries, and most hope the fishery can be sustained long term.

[skippyB]

04:22 PM on 02/22/2010

They're stockpiling the bluefin and they will eat the last one. And may they all compete for the last piece amongst themselves and have a bluefin bubble and Tokyo will be the next Detroit.

[saami]

02:34 PM on 02/22/2010

Why would the do otherwise. The Japanese seem to be willing to fish everything into extinction.

[satanlite]

02:54 PM on 02/22/2010

That is exactly right. They figure if it's out there, they have a right to take it and use it until it is gone. Imagine how voracious they'd be if they were American Republicans!

[ddpalmerr]

03:18 PM on 02/22/2010

Try reading the story before you demonize the Japanese.

They don't fish Atlantic Bluefin. They buy it from the people who do the fishing. And what they are saying is that they won't sign onto a ban in the international trade in Atlantic Bluefin. If the countries that actually catch the fish do sign on then Japan won't have anyone to import them from.

So the actual countries that do the fishing are the ones that need to be convinced. If they don't sign onto the ban then they are the ones to blame.

[gardenkitty]

03:41 PM on 02/22/2010

If there was no market for bluefin tuna, no one would fish for them.

[Y2KCockroach]

04:30 PM on 02/22/2010

Well, "ddpalmerr", you need to do a little reading on the state of the Atlantic Bluefin Tuna fishery. The Japanese control the majority of buying in that fishery (a 7.2 billion dollar industry which is 40% controlled by Mitsubishi Industries alone). Each tuna (including those poached) bring in tens of thousands of dollars to the fishermen. As a result, the fishery is heavily poached, and the ICCAT quotas are routinely ignored (eg. a 2008 22.5 mt quota, in comparison to an actual 60 mt take). As long as some Bluefin Tuna fishery is allowed, the ridiculous level of poaching will continue (Japan takes no interest in limiting the poaching, and actually is the prime cause of it). The "problem" with Japan is that they want ICCAT to continue to "regulate" the industry (which it doesn't), and thereby continue to profit from the pillage. Japan has a role in this issue, and that is one of supporting the sustainability of that fishery.

You cannot stop the poaching, without stopping those who patronize the poachers.

[Creeker11]

02:20 PM on 02/22/2010

This is awesome. Crusted Whale meat stuffed with Tuna is my favorite.

[lungfish]

02:06 PM on 02/22/2010

Of course they don't even mention mercury loads in bluefin.....

[tones]

02:04 PM on 02/22/2010

This is far from news i could of told you this was going to happen the min the ban was even thought about.

You are dealing with a country that doesn't even recognize the horrors they did in WWII and most of them believe the US started the war with them, you think they really care about stupid little fish?

[addisonsteele]

01:47 PM on 02/22/2010

This is similar to Japan's whaling for "research." I agree with Australia. It is time to crack down on Japan's blithe disregard of the damage it is doing to the world's wildlife.

[Y2KCockroach]

02:05 PM on 02/22/2010

"addisonsteele": I would gently suggest that Japan's disregard for the environmental consequences of its actions are not "blithe" (i.e. they are not lighthearted, or lacking in due thought or consideration). On the contrary, their actions are borne of careful, dark, cynical calculation. The words "venal" and "craven" might be more apt......

[MaggieNYS]

09:01 AM on 02/24/2010

900 per year, and they claim all for "research", yet the whales are delivered to the mother ship, chopped up, packaged and frozen within a couple of hours. Are they researching how much time it takes to get the whale from ocean to dinner plate?