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August 11: Japan has the chance to give a clear signal to help end pirate fishing.

After the Hatsukari arrived in Shimizu, Japan on Wednesday 9 August, the Fisheries Agency of Japan (FAJ) went on board to inspect the ship's documents. The captain of the Hatsukari admitted having taken tuna from the "Flag of Convenience" (FOC) tuna longliner "Benny 87" from Cambodia but that that particular tuna had been offloaded in Cape Town.

It is true that, on 20 June, the Hatsukari entered Cape Town harbour. Without prior notification to the South African authorities it offloaded 72 tonnes of tuna, and left the next day. However, the landing declaration submitted by the Hatsukari in Cape Town is extremely vague: 12 tonnes of albacore tuna and 60 tonnes of "tuna". According to the South African authorities it is impossible to prove that the tuna collected from the Benny 87 was indeed offloaded in South Africa. The South African authorities have notified the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) and the governments of Panama and Japan about the Hatsukari's activities.

Since Greenpeace's visit to South Africa last July, the authorities have adopted some new measures. It is now compulsory for all fish landing declarations in South Africa to specify the exact species and quantity even for fish in transit. And landings by FOC vessels on the ICCAT list is prohibited in all South African harbours. Although the South African authorities admit that it does not prevent landings by reefers like the Hatsukari.

Japan has closed its harbours to tuna longliners from Panama, Belize and Honduras. But, as Greenpeace demonstrated, reefers are involved in operations with such fishing vessels, bringing in their catch to Japan. Obviously, there is quite a big loophole there.

Until now, reefers and their companies have openly reported collecting tuna from FOC vessels as it was apparently not considered as a problem. The list of FOC tuna longliners compiled by the Federation of Japan Tuna Fisheries Co-operative Associations is based among other things on information from Japanese customs which reveals the FOC origin of tuna imported in Japan (tuna imports to the Japanese markets must mention the quantity of tuna by species, the flag country of the fishing vessels, the name and address of the owners of the fishing vessels and ports of shipments).

In addition to the visual documentation by Greenpeace of some illegal transhipping activity the Hatsukari's company's documentation must reveal many more cases.

As of this afternoon (Friday 11 August), the FAJ had not yet decided whether or not to authorise the Hatsukari to offload.

Japan has vowed to put an end to FOC tuna fishing and has been encouraging the international community to follow suit. Now is the opportunity for Japan to give a clear signal to all those involved in and benefiting from FOC fishing activities in total impunity that those days are over.