The Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) decided to expand Japan's catch quotas of Pacific bluefin tuna from 2025, the country's Fisheries Agency has said.
According to the agency's announcement on Tuesday, Japan's annual catch quota for large bluefin tuna weighing 30 kilograms or more will increase 50% from the current level and that for smaller bluefin tuna will expand 10%.
The plans to boost the quotas had been agreed on at a meeting of the WCPFC's Northern Committee held in Kushiro, Hokkaido, in July. The WCPFC officially decided on the new quotas at an annual meeting held in Fiji until Tuesday.
Stocks of bluefin tuna, which is popular as a luxury sushi topping, had been decreasing due to overfishing. In recent years, however, they have been recovering, and Japan had been asking for substantial increases in catch quotas.
Based on the official decision, Japan's catch quota will increase to 8,421 metric tons from 5,614 metric tons for large bluefin tuna, rising for the first time in three years, and to 4,407 metric tons from 4,007 metric tons for small bluefin tuna, the first increase ever.
Also at the annual meeting, the WCPFC decided to review the catch quotas in 2026.
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