Court To Rule On Future Australian Tuna Exportsff

An Australian court is about to decide whether the bluefin tuna or the $300 million industry it supports is to face extinction.

The Federal Government has been taken to court by an environmental group, Humane Society International, over a decision to continue exporting southern bluefin tuna.

The ruling by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, due soon, will decide whether the fishing is ecologically sustainable.

The fish has been on the world list of endangered species for more than a decade, but that status is not recognized by Australian law.

At stake is a $308 million industry operating almost entirely out of Port Lincoln, about 300 kilometers west of Adelaide.

Australia exports 99 per cent of its catch to Japan. And it's not alone: 95 per cent of the global catch ends up at Tokyo's giant Tsukiji Fish Market. Japan's huge appetite for the fish, used in sashimi, has created one of Australia's most lucrative fishing industries. Export is the lifeblood of the Port Lincoln tuna barons.

In October, federal Environment Minister Ian Campbell rejected listing the fish as threatened, on the recommendation of the Threatened Species Scientific Committee. It had noted that while the fish should be listed, the move could weaken Australia's ability to negotiate at an international level.

Australia is one of the countries involved in the international Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna, which sets fishing quotas for its member nations: Japan, New Zealand, Korea and Taiwan.

Drastic recommendations from its scientific committee in September that global catches should be reduced by 30 per cent this year -or by 50 per cent next year- sparked debate among its members but no agreement.