High fuel costs to keep 30% of Asian tuna fishing boats in port

TOKYO, June 28 Kyodo - Japanese and three other Asian unions representing pelagic long-line tuna fishing operators under a Tokyo-based umbrella group have agreed to suspend operations in a cooperative manner in order to avoid losses caused by soaring
fuel prices, group officials said Friday.

The decision by the Japanese union and its Chinese, South Korean and Taiwanese
counterparts, all belonging to the Organization for the Promotion of
Responsible Tuna Fisheries, will eventually affect about 30 percent of the
around 1,200 fishing boats operating in the world, they said.

Pelagic long-line fishing boats catch big eye and other tunas mainly for the
Japanese market. Prices for sashimi in retail stores in Japan could rise as a
result of the suspended operations.

The Japanese union intends to stop operating at least 20 percent of its 350
fishing boats, although it has yet to formally decide when to do so.

The Taiwanese union has already decided to keep 204 of its 387 boats in port,
while the Chinese union has halted 40 of its 204 boats. The Korean union has
already decided to stop operating 10-20 percent of its 160 vessels.

The OPRT groups ocean-going long-line tuna fishing operators from Japan and
nine other countries. ==Kyodo