By Ranjan Bhaduri
Qatar, Mar 22, (THAINDIAN NEWS) The much debated bill to ban the trade of Blue fin Tuna, a delicacy loved by the fish lovers, has been turned down. Japan played a major role in blocking the bill. USA was a major proponent of the bill and it tried to portray the fact that Blue Fin Tuna should be protected from rampant fishing in the Atlantic. The Monaco delegates argued at the CITES convention that the species has suffered heavily from industrial fishing and its population has diminished drastically in recent years.

However, the effort to get the bill passed met with heavy opposition from Japan. Japan consumes a large part of Tuna every year and Blue Fin is used in the country to make a delicacy known as Sushi. Masanori Miyahara, who headed the Japanese delegation, came down heavily on the supporters of the ban and said that CITES should not intervene in regulating the trade of Tuna and marine species as the responsibility lies with the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna. Japan also got support from Canada and number of developing countries that import Tuna. The nations argued that imposing ban on tuna trading will result in destroying economies based on fishing.

The development has not gone down well with the environmental groups that believe that Tuna species are heading towards extinction due to extensive fishing activities in the Atlantic. The head of the US delegation, Tom Strickland expressed his displeasure over the incident but said that USA will pursue the issue at the ICCAT. However, some of the European countries are also against the ban.