Japan's David vs Goliath battle to preserve Pacific bluefin tuna

A group of small-scale fishermen are waging an increasingly public struggle against industrial fleets using sonar and huge nets to scoop up massive catches of spawning tuna, reports Environment 360

One after another, the fishermen stream into a makeshift office at Katsumoto port, on the island of Iki in the Sea of Japan. Outside, their small white boats are docked as a storm rages; inside, they chain-smoke and banter with the ease of lifelong acquaintance. Their business, however, is serious: Pacific bluefin tuna are disappearing from the sea, and somehow they must stop the decline.
"Twenty years ago, we used to see the tuna swimming under our boats in schools that went on for two miles," says Kazuto Doi, a sun-weathered man in his 40s who, like all the Iki fishermen, uses a pole and line to catch the prized source of sushi. "We never see that now."

"I have three kids, but I can't send them to university," adds Koji Harada, who now supplements his catch with squid and other less lucrative fish. "We used to make a good living at this."