Southern Bluefin quota cuts could be “too little, too late”

In response to Karli Thomas: The industry is not in la-la land - they are out in boats on the water seeing what is happening. If you think they want stocks to collapse you are in la-la land. I came as a researcher into the industry very sceptical with a black and white attitude to the situation. What I saw from time at sea and with the industry changed my view. Three CSIRO randomly selected aerial transects over the Great Australian Bight last year counted almost 5000 tons of tuna, and this year two transects counted nearly 6000 tons. Aerial surveys are a hit or miss process agreed but it is an "observed" count in one big volume of water. I have "seen" the fisherman having the luxury of being able to drop their nets around a school of fish because they are too small. This is because numbers of SBT gathering in the Great Australian Bight (in big letters so it sinks in) HAVE BEEN RECOVERING over the last 15 years - this is an OBSERVED FACT. Debate is on whether the adult stock is recovering fast enough. The Australian industry counts every single tuna using underwater cameras and has practically zero by-catch - a claim no other fishing industry in the world (regardless of species) can make as far as I know. I am looking forward to seeing the science that suggests levels are at 5% - I know these models are dubious at best because I majored in Fisheries Science on my way to a PhD. If you want to dismantle the best managed tuna fishery in the world based on assumption and not observation then good luck saving the tuna. Sending the best student to the corner of the classroom will see you loose control of it. A blanket all approach does not work for a migratory species and good industries need to be identified so that economic rewards for the sustainable fishers can show the way forward before the Chinese boats gear up and the number of sushi restaurants in Moscow hits 1500. Quite simply, if you think we can save tuna in the open seas from slaughter when there is an economic incentive to do so when, at the same time, we can not save the men, women, and children of Rwanda from slaughter when it is just the right thing to do then someone certainly is in la-la land.

Frankly I think the Australian industry is in la-la land if they are claiming there is "significant recovery" in the stock. It is assessed at around 5% of its original population size. That means that 95% has been wiped off the planet, and you're getting about as close to extinction as you can. To consider ANY hunting or fishing on a species that has been mismanaged to that extent is unthinkable. There is nothing to be proud of here, and it's time to give the species a complete break and hope like hell there are enough left for bluefin tuna to recover at all.

I am scientist, I work in the tuna industry, I live in Japan. The Japanese delegation to the CCSBT meeting demanded a 50-70% quota cut. Some may say that this was ironic considering the massive over-catch by Japanese fishers over the last 15 years. However it may be an indication, along with their acceptance of a halving of their quota for 5 years and their fishing boat buy-back schemes that they are facing up to the issues. Time will tell. Let's hope we don't see another proposal from them for an experimental fishing quota before it is due. The decision to reduce the quota, despite the Australian industry seeing significant recovery in the last 15 years, is not necessarily a bad thing as it demonstrates that the CCSBT is the most active and effective RFMO, because the stocks will be allowed to recover at a faster rate, and, if there is a re-gearing of the market according to economic theory, prices should rise as supply decreases, hopefully cancelling out the reduced volume. Sadly though conservation groups could tout this as a major victory and as evidence that SBT is indeed in major trouble. Trouble, I fear, may actually occur not due to over-exploitation by regulated fishers but due to IUU fishing of SBT should prices rise to a level that will bring it into play. Lets see what happens in the Australian Bight over the next few years with aerial survey findings as fisheries stock assessment models often yield erroneous results due to heavy reliance on input variables that are often estimated rather than actually observed and often from dubious sources (i.e. they often have to rely on data gathered and provided by fisherman or government agencies who are not independent participants). Lets hope we continue to find win-win-win scenarios for the industry, for conservation groups, and for the fish.

The Japanese may demand it, but fishing convoys, legal or otherwise are feeding the Japanese market giving the illusion of abundance in tuna fish stock. Unless illegal fishing is tackled first, it's hard to really protect the tuna from disappearing and other marine life from by-catch. Market demand needs to be curbed, easier said than done.

Japanese greed and disrespect of rules and quotas are the things that will ultimately torpedo any arrangement to try and save this fish from commercial/actual extinction. No amount of talk and agreement will stop the Japanese from "legally" pillaging the oceans far and wide and also sub contracting the to the criminal illegalfishers who also supply the Japanese markets through the back door. Don't matter anyway...the Tuna is going the way of the Cod and only when it's gone will these eco terrorists understand what they have done.