Joint meeting to address tuna conservation

KOBE, Japan, Jan. 21 (UPI) -- Fishing industry and government officials from about 80 countries will meet this week in Kobe, Japan, to discuss tuna depletion.

Five international tuna conservation groups will meet to look for ways to deal with the worldwide decrease in tuna stock, the Japan Times reported.

The joint meeting, the first of its kind, is "profoundly important," said Alistair Graham, the World Wildlife Fund's adviser on high seas matters.

"There is a great sense around the world that tuna fisheries have come to a crisis point," he said. "They cannot continue in the future in the same way as they have in the past."

Japan, as the world's largest consumer of tuna, has been accused of over fishing bluefin tuna, the newspaper said.