The Sydney Morning Herald reported a couple of days ago that Japan has stolen (through illegal fishing) 6,000-18,000 tonnes of southern bluefin tuna a year for the past twenty years -
An investigation into the imperilled fishery found Japanese fishers and suppliers from other countries caught up to three times the Japanese quota each year for the past 20 years, and hid it.The Australian Fisheries Management Authority’s managing director, Richard McLoughlin, said it was 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. And it’s outrageous.”
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The Japanese overcatch was uncovered by Australian industry figures who scrutinised publicly available market documents.
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“It’s just been revealed that … on a 6000-tonne national quota, Japan’s been catching anything between 12,000 and 20,000 tonnes for the last 20 years, and hiding it. And has probably killed that stock … And that’s one of our major fisheries in Australia.”
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The Bureau of Rural Sciences said the most recent estimate by Australian scientists of southern bluefin’s parental biomass – the quantity of adult tuna – was that it stood at as little as 4 per cent of its original size.
All of this shows a phenomenal arrogance on the part of Japan – however the interesting thing to watch from here on will be whether the international community, particularly Australia, does anything to censure Japan – I’m guessing that they won’t. If there was any real concern about honesty in international relations, Japan would be booted off the UN Security Council immediately.