TOKYO, August 1, 2008 (AFP) - Japanese tuna fishermen on Friday temporarily suspended operations in a bid to revive stocks that are rapidly declining under pressure from a worldwide sushi craze, officials said.

Tuna vessels from Japan's largest fisheries cooperative are taking part in the suspension.

VIGO, July 27, 2008 (AFP) - Equipped with long-range cameras and ultra-sophisticated electronic equipment, a helicopter stands ready on the deck of the Tarifa, a Spanish navy frigate at the forefront of Europe's attempts to rein in illegal fishing of the threatened bluefin tuna.

ON THE MEDITERRANEAN BETWEEN MALTA AND TUNISIA, July 27, 2008 (AFP) - The rage for sushi and sashimi, Japan's raw fish dishes that overtook the West and have now spread to increasingly prosperous China, risks wiping out one of the Mediterranean's most emblematic residents: the bluefin tuna.

VALLETTA, June 27, 2008 (AFP) - Visiting French Agriculture Minister Michel Barnier complained Friday of a 'lack of transparency' in the European Commission's decision to cut short the bluefin tuna fishing season.

TOKYO, June 5, 2008 (AFP) - Japan's fishermen are considering a wide-ranging strike this summer to protest surging fuel prices, which threaten to sap profits, an industry official said Thursday.

TOKYO, June 5, 2008 (AFP) - Japan's fishing industry is considering a wide-ranging strike this summer to protest surging fuel prices, a fishing industry representative said Thursday.

Japan has one of the world's largest fishing industries but has virtually no natural energy resources, making Asia's biggest economy especially susceptible to global oil price fluctuations.

Rising fuel costs may force one third of ocean-going long-line tuna fishing boats across the world to halt operations, an industry group said Thursday.

About 140 boats from Taiwan, China, South Korea, Fiji and elsewhere are already standing idle at port, said Yuichiro Harada, managing director at the Tokyo-based Organisation for the Promotion of Responsible Tuna Fisheries.

SYDNEY, April 22, 2008 (AFP) - Ship-borne activists said Tuesday they had targeted fishing boats from South Korea, Taiwan and the US in high-seas protests against the 'plundering' of tuna in the Pacific.

TOKYO, March 27, 2008 (AFP) - Tuna eating and catching nations agreed Thursday to review rules to fight chronic overfishing, paving the way for stricter catch quotas later this year, Japanese officials said.

GENEVA, March 12, 2008 (AFP) - The Mediterranean tuna fishing fleet is so large that its capacity is nearly twice the current quotas, and some 200 ships should be scrapped to conserve stocks, environmental group WWF said Wednesday.