Our recent story, “The Saudi Arabia of Sashimi,” which revealed how eight island nations have come together to protect the world’s last healthy tuna populations from the perils of the lawless sea, was recently translated and published by Newsweek Japan.
“Tuna is the oil of the Western and Central Pacific with the region’s stock worth $5.5 billion,” writes reporter Shannon Service. “As unregulated fishing collapses tuna stocks elsewhere and global demand for tuna grows, the value of the fish here continues to climb. One Pacific bluefin recently sold in Japan for $1.76 million, and over the past four years, the cost of tuna licenses in this region shot from $400 per day to $6,000.”
According to data released in January, blue fin will soon be effectively extinct in the North Pacific. “Everyone will tell you,” Service writes, quoting Palau President Thomas Remengesau Jr., “that at the rate we’re going, there won’t be any big eye tuna or bluefin in the near future.”
The report details the various ways these nations are managing their fisheries — from limiting the number of boats and the length of time they are allowed to fish, to making rules about how fishing is conducted and protecting fish on their migration path in open waters. These rules have been both radical and effective, and yet they might not go far enough to protect the tuna.
Here is a look at how the story appeared in print:
You can read the full story here on our Web site.