Environmentalists trying to preserve endangered stocks of bluefin tuna in Europe do not think an upcoming international conference in Tokyo will alleviate the crisis.
They believe the meeting of industry figures in March will merely paper over the cracks because it will not address what they call generous fishing quotas in the Mediterranean and the Eastern Atlantic.
But the Fisheries Agency is defending the meeting, saying it will attempt to combat the problem of unauthorized fishing and also act as a springboard for further quota cuts.
Greenpeace International has issued a report showing how certain practices and loopholes in Japan can undermine current fishing limits.