Australian authority has decided to cut the catching quotas of southern bluefin tuna by 30 percent after warnings from scientists that stocks are close to collapse. It is said that the southern bluefin tuna catch is worth hundreds of millions of dollars to Australia but marine researchers estimate that stocks are dangerously low. The Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna, which represents all the major countries that catch the fish, recently met in South Korea.
At the conference many nations agreed that bluefin fishing quotas had to be cut immediately. While the overall international quota has been cut 20 percent, Australia, which is responsible for about 40 percent of the world’s catch, must cut its take by almost a third. It is fact that this cut hit the Australian fishermen hard as southern bluefin tuna is Australia’s largest fishing industry and the annual season starts in early December.
Experts said that any move to reduce quotas are likely also push up prices at Japanese sushi restaurants, which buy almost all of the catch. Australia has had the largest quota at more than 5,000 tons a year, while Japan’s quota was set at 3,000 tons.
