Saury quota reduction proposed at Northern Pacific talks

Japan, Russia, China, and six other countries began a meeting in Osaka on Monday. The aim is to discuss the catch quota for saury fish this year. This four-day meeting will explore the possibility of reducing the quota due to poor catches recently. The decline in saury catches is linked to past overfishing and changes in ocean conditions. In April 2024, the North Pacific Fisheries Commission set rules to limit yearly changes in saury quotas to 10%. They also agreed to automatically calculate quotas based on resource data. For 2024, the saury catch quota for the high seas in the northern Pacific is set at 135,000 tons, a decrease from 150,000 tons the previous year. The total quota for the northern Pacific has also been lowered from 250,000 tons to 225,000 tons. This includes 90,000 tons for the 200-nautical-mile zones of Japan and Russia, down from 100,000 tons.