Source: The Japan Times
The government will ban the expansion of bluefin tuna farms across the country as part of efforts to prevent overfishing, fisheries minister Akira Gunji said Friday.
The ban is intended to protect immature tuna from being overfished for farming.
In June, the ministry asked prefectural governments not to allow fish farms to expand their tuna facilities.
But because the request was not honored in some prefectures, the ministry has decided to change it to a binding instruction based on the 1949 fishery law, officials said.
There were 137 bluefin tuna farms across the country as of the end of 2011.