Tuna Fishing Fraud 1000's tonnes hidden

[seabug]

Australia's Tuna fisherman will be justly outraged if the report below from ABC Online is verified.
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Seabug


Tuna catch fraud claims anger fishermen
Australia's fishing industry is angry about reports that Japan has illegally caught $2 billion worth of blue fin tuna in Australian waters over the past two decades.

The managing director of the Australian Fisheries Management Authority, Richard McLoughlin, says Japan has a 6,000 tonne national quota.

But he says it illegally catches between 12 and 20 tonnes and hides it.

Mr McLoughlin has told the Australian National University in Canberra, it is an enormous international fraud that reaches all levels of the Japanese Government.

He says it is largely because the Japanese only ever allow Japanese observers on their boats.

"Essentially it was just plain fraud, it has been fraud," he said.

"There were many thousands of tonnes a year of blue fin tuna that were coming in that were being unreported or were being caught on Chinese boats or Thai boats.

"[It was] coming in through the back door into the Japanese businesses houses that were going onto the marketplace that were recorded as big eye tuna or something like that."

The chief executive of the Tasmanian Fishing Industry Council, Neil Stump, says many fishermen are upset they have been abiding by quotas to protect the fishery, while tuna is being plundered illegally.

"There are a lot of people involved in the fishing industry out there who have been denied access to tuna because Australia realised there needed to be a rationalisation in the catches," he said.

"[They] did the hard yards and to find out that the Japanese have been overcatching to such a significant effect is really deflating actually."

[Dezzer]

Surely at some stage an Australian government will realize that the costs of initiating and maintaining a proper coastwatch/fisheries patrol will be paid back when this sort of activity is stopped. It seems that its worth while for foreign fishing vessels to enter Australian waters and reap our harvest when good money can be made with little risk of apprehension.

[longtail]

this has already been posted this morning

[seabug]

"this has already been posted this morning "#

Apologies if I missed it.


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Seabug