Countries that fish for Pacific bluefin tuna have agreed on a new quota rule that paves the way for bigger catches if conditions affecting the species' population improve. The rule, which incorporates a proposal put forth by Japan, includes a specific short-term goal of increasing the population. But the target itself is low. As a major consumer of bluefin tuna, Japan should be aware that the danger of resource depletion remains. It should make convincing efforts to help restore the population.
Most Pacific bluefin tuna are caught in the Northern Pacific. High-grade fatty flesh of tuna, or toro, is popular for sushi and sashimi. Japan harvests more than half the total catch, although bluefin accounted for only about 10 percent of the tuna sold in the Japanese market in 2015.
In 1961, the total stock of mature Pacific bluefin tuna, which can spawn, stood at 160,000 tons. The stock dwindled to a mere 16,500 tons in 2014 — roughly one-tenth the 1961 level and only 2.6 percent of the species' historic population — a hypothetical size assumed to have existed before large-scale fishing activities began.