Key facts
- An international conference on Pacific bluefin tuna management in Nagasaki failed to agree on expanding catch quotas.
- Mexico unexpectedly opposed Japan's proposal to increase the catch limit for fish weighing over 30 kilograms.
- Japan's Fisheries Agency expressed outrage over the stalled negotiations.
- The proposed changes aimed to make bluefin tuna more affordable by increasing catch limits.
- If agreed, the new rules would have been adopted at the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission meeting in November and potentially applied by 2027.
An international conference aimed at sustainably managing Pacific bluefin tuna concluded without an agreement to expand catch quotas, primarily due to Mexico's unexpected opposition. Japan, which hosted the conference in Nagasaki, had sought to implement new regulations that would automatically set quotas based on tuna stocks and increase the catch limit for fish exceeding 30 kilograms. The proposal was intended to make bluefin tuna, a luxury item, more accessible to consumers.
Japan's Fisheries Agency voiced strong dissatisfaction with the outcome, with councilor Takumi Fukuda calling Mexico's actions "unreasonable" and expressing outrage. The failure to reach a consensus means negotiations will continue. Had an agreement been reached, it would have been formally adopted at the annual meeting of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission in November and could have been implemented as early as 2027.
The current combined catch quotas are set at 11,869 tons for larger fish and 5,125 tons for smaller fish, with Japan holding the largest shares of 8,421 tons and 4,407 tons, respectively. Japan has been advocating for an expanded quota, citing the steady recovery of the bluefin tuna population. However, similar discussions last year also failed to yield an agreement, with the U.S. at that time emphasizing the importance of resource conservation.