Japan to ignore bluefin tuna ban
While we’re not sure just how Japan will ignore it, Japan’s vice minister for fisheries has said that if Atlantic bluefin tuna exports are banned at an upcoming CITES-related vote later this month, then Japan would not comply with the ban. The problem for Japan is that the U.S. has come out in support of the ban, meaning that Japan will not have any major allies when the 175-nation vote comes up in Doha, Qatar.
So what does “not comply” mean? We presume that Japan might try to send its own fishing boats into the Atlantic high seas and see if anyone challenges them. Do we get the sense that the whale hunt confrontation in the Southern Ocean was just Act One for a bigger showdown yet to come? ** (Source: TT commentary from upi.com)