Traditional Oma fishermen demand stricter regulations on catch quotas of bluefin tuna as they fears the species is on the brink. The Pacific bluefin tuna, known as the “black diamond” by Oma fishermen, is legendary for its rich red flesh and can sell for tens of thousands of dollars. President of the Oma Fishermen’s Co-op, Hirofumi Hamahata, has been fishing for more than 60 years and says he has noticed the tuna’s decline.
Hamahata told that on both the Pacific Ocean side and the Sea of Japan side the schools of tuna have been disappearing for the last 20 years. He informed that once a fisherman could catch three or four big fish a day, but now the entire Oma fleet of 40 boats is lucky to reel in half a dozen tuna. The fishermen of Oma are proud of the way they catch tuna – using open boats, hand-held lines, and often live bait.
It is fact that Japan consumes 80 percent of the world’s bluefin tuna catch and it has long resisted any push to cut quotas around the globe. Hamahata demand form Japanese government to impose a three-year moratorium on the trawling and netting of tuna. At the annual tuna festival in Oma, thousands of tourists come to sample the town’s most famous product.
Oma’s mayor Mitsuharu Kanazawa says the tuna is the only reason the town exists and if the big fish goes, so too does Oma. He said that the world must stop the excessive fishing involving trawlers and netting to save the tuna. When the fishermen of Oma are returning to port, most come back empty-handed.
