Pacific Island Nations Resist Plan To Cut Tuna Fishing Capacityff

International efforts to realize sustainable use of tuna stocks showed a crack Wednesday as developing countries hesitated to cut the number of large-sized fishing vessels, a plan supported by Japan and some other developed economies.

Japan, Taiwan and others, traditionally seen as tuna-fishing countries, have expressed concern that large vessels could be a serious threat to tuna resources.

But many developing countries, especially Pacific island nations, expressed caution regarding active curbs on their fishing capacity as they are hoping to use tuna fisheries for economic development.

Those countries instead urged developed economies to stop using vessels under different countries’ flags in an attempt to maintain the appearance that the size of their fishing fleets is unchanged.