Tuna collapse fears fail to curb Japan's
appetite
TOKYO (AP) - It is the king of sushi, one of the most expensive
fish in the world - and dwindling so rapidly that some fear it
could vanish from restaurant menus within a generation.
Yet there is little alarm in Japan, the country that consumes
about 80 per cent of the world's bluefin tuna. Japanese fisheries
experts blame cozy ties between regulators and fishermen and a
complacent media for failing to raise public awareness.
"Nobody really knows the bad state bluefin tuna is in," veteran
sushi chef Kazuo Nagayama said from his snug, top-end sushi bar in
Tokyo's Shimbashi district, a popular area for after-work
socialising.
"I don't think it'll disappear, but we might not be able to
catch any. It's obvious we need to set quotas."
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