How is that for a headline? It's pretty consistent though with the Japanese and their policy when it comes to how they deal with anything concerning their fishing practices, from whaling to blue fin tuna. We do what we want to do, regardless of international law.
I've written about their continued skirting of the International Whaling Commission ban on commercial whaling that's been in place for decades now by calling it "scientific research" and ruffled some feathers by praising the acts of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society's harsh methods being able to keep Japan from meeting their Whaling Quota.
I've written about the continued Slaughter of dolphins in Taiji Japan that was depicted in the now Oscar nominated Documentary the Cove. And now the Japanese continue to show that they will defy any international law they please.
PARIS — Japan will not join in any agreement to ban international trade in Atlantic bluefin tuna under the United Nations treaty on endangered species, the country’s top fisheries negotiator said.
The negotiator, Masanori Miyahara, said in a telephone interview this week that Japan “would have no choice but to take a reservation” — in effect, to ignore the ban and leave its market open to continued imports — if the bluefin tuna were granted most-endangered species status.
“It’s a pity,” he said, “but it’s a matter of principle.”
Source
It's a matter of principle.
And why?
Historically, he said, almost no species added to the Cites endangered species list had ever been removed. “We don’t believe the bluefin tuna is endangered to that extent,” he said.
It's the same logic that's been used to continue to their whaling practices, which in the case of the Minke whale, is true. It's numbers have rebound and their new excuse has to do with the fact that whales eat too much fish.
So of course the question is, are bluefin tuna not endangered? It doesn't take much research to find out that many in the scientific community believe so. I've seen it, you might have too, seen the diaries on the rec list about the severity of the crisis. My guide for the fish I chose to eat is the Monterery Bay Aquarium, which has extensive information for consumers like me, on what fish is sutstainably caught and responsibly farmed for consumption.
Bluefin Tuna
All populations of bluefin tuna are being caught faster than they can reproduce. Bluefin is being further depleted by ranching operations that collect small bluefin and raise them to full size to sell primarily to the sushi market.
Consumer Note
Bluefin is known as hon maguro or toro (tuna belly), when it is prepared for sushi.
Summary
Bluefin tuna is prized by sushi chefs and the high demand for this fish has taken its toll in the Atlantic, Pacific and Southern Oceans. It’s slow to mature and many fisheries are catching young bluefin tuna that haven’t had a chance to reproduce.
Bluefin tuna is caught in the Pacific, Atlantic, Southern Oceans and Mediterranean. It’s highly migratory and frequently crosses international boundaries during its yearly migration. Numerous nations, including the U.S. and Japan, participate in international management bodies that work to maintain global tuna populations. Unfortunately, these programs are proving ineffective.
Monterery Bay Aquarium
It is this continued stand based on principle by not just Japan, but other Countries, that is going to be the end of us all. It's not just about the Bluefin Tuna, it's about the collapse of our oceans. It's about the the beautiful and bountiful sea that we all seem to take for granted.
And almost every practice that we rely upon for our food is affecting it in a negative manner, from our continued reliance on factory farming here in the US to our demand for shrimp, big catch fish and horrifically dangerous fishing methods (By catch is dangerous for the fish who get caught up in long nets, victims not intended to be caught by die anyway. Then you have shark finning, where the rest of the shark is thrown away and left to drown and the fin is used in soup. Sharks are an apex predator in some cases and a hugely important part of the ocean's food web).
Right now, in New Zealand, there's a little dolphin called the Maui's Dolphin (Yes I wrote about it too) that is also on the brink of extinction. Just over a 100 of them left and it's all because of net fishing. These dolphins are the smallest mammal in the ocean and because they live so close to shore and can only hold their breath for a mere three minutes, they drown very easily in the fishing nets used by fisherman. They have no other natural predators where they live, on the North Island of New Zealand. That's it, that's the only place you will find this dolphin.
Fishers have been warned if they set nets in restricted areas off the west coast of the North Island they will go to court and could lose their boats, their gear and towing vehicles.
The warning has come from the Department of Conservation and the Ministry of Fisheries as part of their campaign to save the critically endangered Maui's dolphins.
It also followed the discovery of a 60-metre drag net earlier this week off Karioitahi on the west coast, south of the entrance to Manukau Harbour.
Source
And yet, the New Zealand Government lacks the political will to press harder to keep the gill nets out of the protected areas and plans to study the dolphins by very invasive methods that could further harm them when they are so low in number.
Our oceans, although they may seem vast, are not beyond being harmed by what we do. And our hubris is the biggest issue to face that balance. I wish I had answers but I can say that we can continue to urge the Japanese to stop whaling, stop killing dolphins in Taiji and stop fishing Bluefin Tuna if there is a ban (and stop eating it too!)
Here in the US, we can all continue to put pressure on our legislature to rethink how we farm by learning more about factory farming and it's affects on the environment. There are so many great diaries about Slow Food and this issue being written on a daily basis by some amazing people in this area (I try too, I really do when I have a chance).
It's not just the Japanese who are at fault, each Country is contributing in some way. So what can we do?
Recommended read, Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer