Late last year, Japan made the commitment to cut its bluefin tuna quota by half for at least the next five years. This decision was made due to the overfishing of the species in 2005, which caused major concern around the world. Australia and Japan together make up 80% of the bluefin tuna market. This could end up hurting Japan, because Australia did not cut their quota as well.
What does this mean for Japan?
Wild bluefin tuna, the most expensive variety of tuna, will likely become a luxury good for most Japanese. The wholesale price of bluefin tuna rose 30% this January. The price of imported bluefin tuna dropped in December, but due to recent cuts in bluefin tuna quotas around the world the price is on the rise again. Also most of the imported bluefin tuna is farm raised, and not the same quality as that which could be caught in Japanese waters. Many Japanese boats once used for bluefin tuna fishing will have to switch to fishing for big eye tuna, and others will have to cut some of their employees just to stay afloat. No pun intended.
an original article can be found at:
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg19225743.100
Tuesday, February 6, 2007
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)