Pacific Fisheries Commission fails to reach an agreement on bluefin tuna

The Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) on Friday failed to close an agreement on limiting young bluefin tuna fishing to facilitate the recovery of the species, which in recent years has seen population levels dip to their lowest ever.

The 26 country members of the organization did not arrive at a consensus on the implementation of the measure in a meeting held in the Japanese city of Fukuoka on Thursday and Friday.

The talks aimed to close a formal agreement on emergency measures to be applied at the end of the year to help bluefin tuna populations recover, as was decided in 2015.

The lack of consensus means that any measures to protect the species will be pushed ahead to 2017.

A group of countries led by Japan had proposed restricting tuna catches less than one year old for a twoyear period, but other countries, including the United States, rejected the measure, officials told Kyodo news agency.

Most of the bluefin tuna caught in the Pacific are sold in Japan, as it is one of the most popular sushi ingredients.

In recent years, a group of environmental organizations have called for restrictions on catches of the bluefin tuna and even gone as far as to declare it an endangered species as the current level has dipped to less than 3 percent of its historic size.

Ninetyseven percent of the bluefin tuna caught in the Pacific are less than one year old and therefore cannot reproduce, which poses a serious threat to the future of the species, according to the World Wildlife Fund, which is also a part of the WCPFC.