A171Japan is the world's largest importer of tuna but, due to excessive fishing, tuna stocks are plummeting. Japan, like other countries, is taking measures to manage fish stocks based on the FAO's International Plan of Action for the Management of Fishing Capacity. The measures include reducing its deep-sea, long-line tuna fishing vessels by 20% or 132 vessels in fiscal 1998. The management of tuna fish stocks is growing internationally, with policies to reduce catches and deal with over fishing being adopted by international organizations including the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC), the Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC), the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC), and the Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna (CCSBT).
People around the world are discovering the merits of tuna and other seafood. In countries and regions where, up until now, it was not customary to eat raw fish, the eating of sushi and sashimi is increasing since it is considered healthy. The trend is no doubt being helped by the spread of infectious diseases such as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and avian flu that affect domestic animals. Japan imports and consumes the majority of tuna fish stocks but in future, while there will be increased pressure to reduce catches to protect stocks, there will also be increased competition from Europe and China in terms of procurement, and it will become necessary to battle for supplies.