European environmentalists are calling on Japan, the biggest consumer of Mediterranean bluefin tuna, to support a drastic reduction in annual catches to preserve the long-term future of the fish.
Turkey will host an international meeting from Friday to Nov. 18 in which conservationists are hoping participants, including Japan, will agree to a groundbreaking cut in quotas.
But the Japanese government appears reluctant to endorse the massive cuts advocated by the green lobby. Instead, it favors a crackdown on countries that take more than their quotas and further deplete already fragile stocks.