The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species is in Qatar discussing proposed regulations covering certain plant and animal species. The main media focus is on bluefin tuna from the Atlantic.
Monaco had proposed a trade ban on the fish since increased demand from sushi lovers the world over has depleted ocean stocks by as much as 80 percent in recent years. Though the proposal has died, it has set the stage for a battle between the West and Asia, in particular Japan, which consumes three-fourths of Atlantic bluefin. Reportedly, the conservation ship Sea Shepherd, which regularly interferes with Japanese research whaling vessels in the South Pacific, is rushing to the aid of Atlantic tuna.
The Sea Shepherd says it is only on the side of the fish, but the Japanese media has characterized the boat's action as not being for the fish but rather against the Japanese, a sentiment that has so far dominated the bluefin debate in Japan. Prior to the Qatar convention, Hirotaka Akamatsu, the minister of agriculture, forestry and fisheries, announced that if restrictions were imposed then Japan would probably ignore them. Most of the Atlantic bluefin that Japan imports comes from tuna farms that catch young fish, which are then fattened up in pens. The catch quota set by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna is administered by weight, which means the farms only have to report the young tuna they catch, not the older, heavier tuna they sell. Japan is saying that if the ICCAT cracks down on this practice, tuna stocks could be conserved and there would be no need for CITES to impose a blanket ban on trade.