The latest big news coming out of Spain is that the World Conservation Union has voted to push for a ban on tuna fishing in the Mediterranean, a huge but necessary step to stop this whole ecosystem from being driven to extinction.

What’s really remarkable about this vote, though, is that Japan got on board and voted “yea” on the measure.

Japan has become the single greatest obstacle to global marine conservation in the last few decades, which has confounded scientists and regulators since Japanese culture and cuisine is so inextricably linked to the sea.

Japan catches more fish and eats more tuna than any other nation in the world, and their fleets span the globe to chase the dwindling stocks and bring back high-quality fish meat. The truth of the matter is that no ocean regulation can be truly successful without the support of the Japanese, since they command such a large market share, and they don’t seem interested. The Japanese no longer answer to the call of science, but to the unrelenting demand for tuna in their high-society.

The decreasing availability and impending crash of these species has not convinced the Japanese to decrease how much they catch, but instead has made them more resistant to international regulation. ICCAT, the international agency in charge of protecting tuna, has become so corrupted by Japanese influence that it’s jokingly called the “International Conspiracy to Catch All Tuna,” Japan openly gloated about how they ruined the International Whaling Commission this summer.

This makes it all the more remarkable that Japan would vote to close the Mediterranean fishery, one of the most productive in the world in previous years, and hopefully marks a new step forward. The reality of the tuna situation is that many species are in serious danger of crashing and going extinct, and it’s no coincidence the same species the Japanese love to eat. The study released earlier this year showed conclusively that the Mediterranean could no longer be fished, and whether Japan found it in their hearts to care, or whether it was simply not profitable any longer to chase the last 5% of the fish, it’s a good sign that they got on board, and gives the regulation a fighting chance to succeed.

photo by Secret Seasons

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