Talks to reverse the decline in tuna populations is to be the main emphasis of the five-day conference in Japan. The meetings, which bring together the world’s regional tuna management groups, is seen as a key step in fighting the decline in one of the most valuable and endangered high-seas fisheries.
Commercial overfishing has endangered this ocean dwelling fish. As per the WWF tuna species face a high risk of commercial extinction due to weak management of the industry. Earlier, Japan, a major fishing nation, had admitted to overfishing and agreed to halve its quota for the southern bluefin tuna.
Participants are going to exchange ideas about monitoring systems, information sharing on illegal vessels and programme to maintain data on catches for each nation. .They are to discuss plans to set up a global tracking system to certify the origin of every tuna that is sold.
Delegates from governments and the fishing industry will discuss a proposal to force anglers to produce certificates of origin for the tuna they catch. If these efforts truly come into force, species such as bluefin tuna may see an increase in their populations.
Via: BBC