島嶼研究
Online ISSN : 1884-7838
Print ISSN : 1884-7013
ISSN-L : 1884-7013
論説
マルタ共和国におけるクロマグロ養殖業の現状と展望
鳥居 享司
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ジャーナル フリー

2020 年 21 巻 2 号 p. 149-166

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Bluefin tuna aquaculture started in the late 1990s and spread worldwide during the 2000s. It is now conducted in many countries including Spain, Croatia, Malta, Turkey, Mexico, and Australia, not to mention Japan. Tuna aquaculture has grown into an important industry in some regions, creating certain economic outcomes. Tuna aquaculture, however, greatly affects wild tuna stocks because it relies on wild capture of young fish as seeds. In addition, the risk of environmental deterioration possibly caused by the large amount of feed has been recognized. The bluefin tuna stock is reported to have substantially recovered, thanks to the strict fisheries management regulations set by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), the organization in charge of tuna stock management. Given the increased total allowable catch (TAC) for bluefin tuna, production of cultured tuna is expected to grow. On the other hand, higher production may cause not only a price drop but also environmental problems, another tuna aquaculture-related issue. In this paper, I discuss the case of the Republic of Malta, which is the biggest tuna farming country in Europe, to show the status and challenges of tuna aquaculture as well as related environmental management. Our research on the status showed that the Republic of Malta produces 14,000 tons of cultured tuna annually, most of which are exported to Japan. It also suggested that although the price of cultured tuna is likely to fall owing to the global increase of their production, it might not have a substantial impact on tuna aquaculture businesses as the price of seed fish drops because of the increased TAC set by ICCAT. However, I found that tuna aquaculture was carried out without adequate preventive measures against adverse environmental effects and that residues of processed tuna were not removed properly.

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