From The "Oh The Humanity" Dept. - Japan Cuts Atlantic Tuna Quota By NEARLY 25%

[hatrack]

Wow. I do hope their fishing industry can survive this massive shock. :eyes:

TOKYO - The price of a high-end sushi dinner is set to rise in Japan after Tokyo's quota for Atlantic bluefin tuna was slashed on Wednesday by nearly a quarter over the next four years.

Environmentalists and scientists say populations of important commercial species such as bluefin tuna are critically depleted, endangering some stocks of the fish, a popular food in Japan, the world's largest fish consumer.
Japan's insatiable appetite for tuna has been a key factor behind the threat to stocks around the world, and increasing demand from other nations is now adding to that pressure.

A meeting in Tokyo of a group managing Atlantic tuna decided to cut Japan's quota for Atlantic bluefin by roughly 23 percent from its 2006 level of 2,830 tonnes to 2,175 tonnes in 2010.

The overall take of tuna in the region, which includes the Mediterranean and ranges deep into the Atlantic, will be cut to 25,500 tonnes from 32,000 tonnes in 2006, a drop of some 20 percent. The decision was criticised as too soft by scientists and environmentalists, who had demanded much steeper cuts.

EDIT

http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/40104/story.htm