With only a tiny breeding stock now approaching the end of its lifecycle holding up the population, the fate of the Pacific Bluefin Tuna hangs on fishing nations’ support for drastically curtailed catch limits at a fisheries management meeting next week. The outcome of a separate meeting covering the central and western Pacific in December is also critical.
  
 The major bluefin tuna fishing nations in the area covered by the Inter American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) will reopen discussions about catch limits and rules for the Pacific Bluefin after failing to reach agreement at its annual meeting in July, in Lima, Peru. The meetings will take place in La Jolla, California
  
 Members of the IATTC, comprised of twenty individual countries and the European Union, have for some time been aware of International Scientific Committee advice that the spawning stock of Pacific Bluefin is at only four per cent of original levels. Ninety per cent of the current catch is comprised of young juveniles yet to breed.
  
“At the moment there may be only one reproductive cohort which is sustaining the stock and rapidly approaching the end of its life cycle,” said Pablo Guerrero, Eastern Pacific Ocean Tuna Coordinator for WWF’s Smart Fishing Initiative. “Only catch reductions of at least 50 per cent and a drastic reduction in the take of juveniles can contribute to rebuilding the stock of this important fishing resource and guarantee any future for the fishery.”
 
WWF is urging countries to follow the scientific advice, and reduce the catch quota from 5000 to 2750 metric tonnes per year.
  
 The IATTC depends on the political will of countries to adopt conservation measures at this meeting that will support sustainable management and provide adequate protection for Bluefin tuna.
  
 Japan, Mexico, South Korea and the United States are the most important countries fishing Pacific Bluefin tuna. The main market is Japan, where 70 per cent of the global Bluefin tuna production is consumed.
  
“We are extremely worried about recovering the stock of this important fishing resource, whose value derives not only from its ecological and social importance but also its economic contribution,” said Guerrero.
  
 In a forthcoming meeting of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission in December, Japan, Korea and other countries will face pressure to match any commitments by IATTC countries to reduce catches.