Japan and Australia signed an agreement that Japanese fishing boats will be allowed to catch 6,421 tons of southern blue-fin tuna this year, an increase of 356 tons from the previous year, reports Kyodo News. Australia has also ended a long-standing ban on Japanese tuna fishing vessels entering Australian ports, Conservation Minister Wilson Tuckey announced on May 29th. Tuckey said the two countries had come to an agreement over Japan's controversial "scientific" fishing program, which breached guidelines of the tripartite Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna (CCSBT). New Zealand, the third member of this commission is expected to also sign the agreement between Japan and Australia. Source: Kyodo News
