Japanese Fisherman Sue U.S. Over Tuna Fishing

Japanese fishermen have sued the U.S. government, seeking to lift regulations that they say prohibit night tuna fishing in American coastal waters.

The Tokyo-based Federation of Japan Tuna Fisheries Co-Operative Assns. claimed that the United States enacted regulations last month under the guise of protecting swordfish, but actually meant to ban the Japanese from taking tuna in U.S. coastal waters.

In 1982, the suit says, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a branch of the U.S. Commerce Department, issued regulations forbidding foreign long-line vessels from fishing for species other than sharks within 100 nautical miles of the U.S. North Atlantic Coast--from Cape Hatteras, N.C., to the Canadian border--between June 1 and Nov. 30.

Members of the Japan Tuna Assn. fish for tuna only with long lines, which are a series of baited hooks.

The suit, filed today, says the effect of the 1982 rule “has been to deprive members of the Japan Tuna Assn. from fishing for tuna in the most productive tuna grounds along the U.S. east coast from June 1 through Nov. 30.”

The association said the U.S. government added another rule last month, in the guise of conserving swordfish, that restricts foreign tuna long-line vessels to fishing only during daylight hours in areas and time periods set annually by the Commerce Department.