Bowing to American pressure on a sensitive environmental issue, Japan agreed Tuesday to comply with a United Nations moratorium on huge fishing nets in the northern Pacific Ocean that scientists say are responsible for widespread destruction of marine life.
The Japanese decision, announced after a Cabinet meeting, ends an unusually contentious issue between Washington and Tokyo.
It also defuses a controversy that threatened to further damage Japan`s reputation on environmental matters.
”We made this decision because we have to give consideration to Japan`s position in international society,” said Masami Tanabu, the minister of agriculture, fisheries and forestry, explaining that Japan yielded because of ”severe” pressure from other countries.
The U.S. has led the drive in the UN to ban the use of drift nets by June 30. The nets, extending up to 40 miles, are criticized as ”walls of death”
that slaughter vast numbers of dolphins, whales, turtles and birds.
Japan said Tuesday it will curtail half of its drift net fishing by the June deadline, and the remaining half by the end of 1992, a position that appears likely to satisfy Washington.
The drift net fishing fight has been unusually bitter, even by the standards of recent trade disputes. Japan had argued the ban would throw about 10,000 fishermen out of work and cripple the fish processing industry, which employs 50,000 others.
Japanese fishermen use the nets to catch a species of squid known as flying squid, which is a delicacy in Japan.
Spokesmen for the fishing industry said they were stunned by the news of the north Pacific ban and are uncertain how to cope with it.
”Right now, we are at a loss,” said an official with the Japan Squid Driftnet Fishing Industry Association.
Tokyo had contended that the evidence showed the nets don`t cause as much damage as the U.S. maintains. Many Japanese also regarded the American effort to adopt the ban as another attempt to destroy the traditional ways of life and doing business in their country.
The United States succeeded in lining up Australia, New Zealand and many other countries against the Japanese position.
”Obviously, we didn`t have many friends in the UN on this issue,” a Japanese official said.
The United States is also trying to stop drift net fishing in the north Pacific by South Korea and Taiwan.
