Japan took centre stage yesterday at talks on the future of Atlantic bluefin tuna, issuing a call for negotiators to respect science and crack down on renegade fishing.

Facing declining stocks and over-exploitation of a fish prized in Japan as gourmet sashimi and sushi, Tokyo issued a sharp warning to bluefin-trawling nations on the Mediterranean rim.

Countries that fail to show they will honour catch limits “should not engage in fishing in 2011,” chief delegate Masanori Miyahara told the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) in a closed-door session.

In an opening statement obtained by AFP, Mr Miyahara was to propose a new rule whereby each party’s “ability and plan” to monitor and police their catches of bluefin be first submitted to ICCAT’s compliance committee.

The 48-member ICCAT, meeting in Paris until November 27, is charged with setting the rules and quotas for Atlantic fishing of bluefin.

It is also tasked with monitoring compliance, for which it has only a spotty record.

Until this year, the organisation has routinely ignored the catch limit recommendations of its own scientists. Even then, the more generous quotas set were often surpassed by a wide margin.

Industrial-scale fishing using huge trap nets during spawning season have helped drive down stocks by about 85 per cent, marine biologists say.

Mr Miyahara reminded delegates that Japan recently refused, for the first time, more than 3,000 tonnes in Atlantic bluefin shipments due to irregularities in documentation.

Tokyo would call for suspending fishing entirely if necessary, he told journalists before the plenary began.

“According to our reading, the science does not require that level of severe measure this year. But in future, if it is necessary, we are ready to take those measures,” he said.