"I feel that what happened with Okinawa and with Toyota is being extended to the tuna issue as well. It is just Japan-bashing. "
Bluefin tuna is by far the most valuable fish in the sea. In 2001, a single fish sold for 173,600 U.S. dollars at Tsukiji. Prices of 10,000 U.S. dollars or more per fish are commonplace.
About a third of the bluefin sold at Tsukiji come from the Atlantic and Mediterranean region and Japan consumes about 80 percent of Atlantic bluefin tuna sold worldwide.
Related:
France bans bluefin tuna trade for 18 months
PARIS, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- France agreed to adopt a global ban on bluefin tuna trade but with a suspended period of 18 months, the Ecology Minister Jean-Louis Borloo said Wednesday at a news conference.
In a bid to protect the endangered specie, France decided to join the ban, but the fishing committee need time to conduct a scientific study and make a withdrawal plan, so the prohibiting order will come into effect in September 2011, Borloo explained. Full story
