Overview
- International negotiators reached a unanimous agreement in an online session on August 18 to expand catch quotas for large Pacific bluefin tuna.
- Japan had proposed roughly a 25% increase for fish 30 kilograms and over and pushed the change after fishers reported having to release catches when national limits were reached.
- Vice Agriculture Minister Yamashita Yuhei held talks with Mexican officials after July’s failed negotiation, and those discussions helped secure Mexico’s support for the compromise.
- The quota increases are set to take partial effect from 2027, but country-by-country allocations and technical implementation remain to be finalized by domestic agencies.
- The deal rests on scientific recovery of the stock since 2015 and introduces a framework to raise quotas automatically with improved stock levels, but fishers and local markets worry higher landings could lower unit prices.