SYDNEY, Australia (10 August 2006) -- Japan has illegally taken $2 billion worth of southern bluefin tuna from waters surrounding Australia in the past 20 years, effectively killing the stock commercially, it is alleged. An independent international investigation into the high-end but at-risk fishery has found that Japanese fishers and their suppliers have caught up to three times Japan's quota each year and hidden it. The official findings of the investigation were presented at an international meeting in Canberra in July, but remained confidential. Richard McLoughlin, managing director of the Australian Fisheries Management Authority, has described Japan's actions as an enormous international fraud. "Essentially the Japanese have stolen $2 billion worth of fish from the international community, and have been sitting in meetings for 15 years saying they are as pure as the driven snow. It's outrageous," he said. Mr McLoughlin made the comments during a speech at the Australian National University under Chatham House rules, which require that the comments of Government officials remain unattributed. However, his speech was recorded and posted on the internet. His revelations raise the prospect that other fisheries in the Pacific and Indian oceans have been pilfered and put increased pressure on Japanese attempts to resume whaling. There were also renewed calls for southern bluefin to be protected under international wildlife law. One of the world's highest priced fish, southern bluefin migrates through the temperate waters of Australia and grows to about 200 kilograms. A $280 million Australian industry is based on catching the fish in the Great Australian Bight and cage-fattening at Port Lincoln. | | Given Japan's record of decimating fish stocks off its own coasts and around the world, it is inevitable Japan's government-subsidized whaling fleet will wipe out whale species if the IWC ban on commercial whaling is ever overturned. The Japanese overcatch was uncovered by Australian industry figures who scrutinised publicly available market documents. After the Federal Government put its concerns to Japan at a meeting of the Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna, an independent review was ordered. The Japanese also sought a review of Australia's farming operations. Mr McLoughlin told the seminar on national fisheries reform that Japan had been catching between 12,000 and 20,000 tonnes of southern bluefin for the past 20 years. Its national quota for the fish, set by the conservation commission, is 6000 tonnes. "(It) has probably killed that stock," Mr McLoughlin said. "And that's one of our major fisheries in Australia." Asked how it had happened, he said: "Largely it's (because) the Japanese only ever allowed Japanese observers on Japanese boats. And essentially it was just plain fraud. SOURCE - The Age |
