Japan will ban the expansion of bluefin tuna farms across the country as part of efforts to prevent overfishing, Fisheries Minister Akira Gunji said today.

Gunji told reporters here that the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries would soon notify prefectural governments of the new policy.

The policy is intended to protect immature tuna from being over-hunted for farming.

In June, the ministry asked prefectural governments not to allow fishing farms to expand their tuna-farming facilities.

But as the request was not honoured in some prefectures, the Ministry has decided to change it to a binding instruction based on the 1949 fishery law, the ministry said.

There were 137 bluefin tuna farms across the country as of the end of 2011, officials said.

The bluefin tuna is one of the most popular sushi ingredients in Japan, the world’s biggest consumer of the fish.

Gunji said Japan needs to make clear its intention to “seriously deal with (marine) resources management,” noting that the international community has started taking a harsh view of Japan’s massive tuna consumption.

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