A bluefin tuna in a New Year's auction at Tokyo's Toyosu fish market on Jan. 5, 2021. (Mainichi)

       TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Japan's quota for Atlantic bluefin tuna for 2022 will be increased by 257 tons from a year earlier to a total of 3,483 tons, as per the decision of an intergovernmental fishery organization, the country's Fisheries Agency said Wednesday.

       The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas decided at a recent online meeting to raise the overall catch limit for countries including Japan, deeming that total tuna stocks are recovering.

       About 50 countries and regions participated in the virtual conference including Japan, the United States and Canada, as well as the European Union.

       Stocks of bluefin tuna, a prized fish for sushi, are managed separately on the western and eastern sides of the Atlantic Ocean as well as the Mediterranean Sea.

       Reflecting the latest assessment in September by the commission, the total allowable catch for the western side of the Atlantic increased by 376 tons. Japan's catch quota here was up from 407 tons to 664 tons, while its quota for the eastern side was unchanged at 2,819 tons.

       Stocks of bigeye tuna have also recovered and the total allowable catch was increased by 500 tons to 62,000 tons, but the Japanese quota remained the same at 13,980 tons, according to the commission.

       The next annual conference will be held in November 2022.

       Font Size S M L Print Timeline 0