ISARIBI NO.74

ISSN1346-2512

JapanFisheries
AssociationNO.74, AUG. 2012
Sankaido Bldg.,
9-13 Akasaka 1, Minato-ku,
Tokyo, Japan 107-0052
tel: 81-3-3585-6683
http//www.suisankai.or.jp

Views and Opinions of Japan’s Fisheries Industry

Damanaki visit to JFA

EShirasu, Damanaki agree to cooperate
in eliminating IUU fishinguropean Commissioner for Maritime Affairs andFisheries Maria Damanaki exchanged views withJapan Fisheries Association (JFA) President Toshiro
Shirasu at the JFA office in Tokyo on July 11 concerning
the common fisheries issues facing Japan and theEuropean Union (EU), centering on the eliminationof illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishingactivities.
Before the meeting with Shirasu, Damanaki had
signed a joint statement on the approaches to IUUfishing with Japan's Minister of Agriculture, Forestry andFisheries, Akira Gunji.
Damanaki's meeting with Shirasu was conducted in afriendly mood, with Shirasu offering Japanese tea andDamanaki saying she loves its fragrance very much.
Damanaki stressed that it is crucial both for Japan andthe EU to join forces in eliminating IUU fishing practices.
IUU fishing, she said, not only harms fishery resources
but also causes damage to fishermen who are operatingin full compliance with fisheries regulations.
Noting that Japan and the EU members are bothfishing and fish consuming countries, the European
leader stated that efforts to check IUU fishing from theconsumptive side will be highly effective. The axis ofactivities for both parties is to grant "passports" to thefish caught legally. The EU agreed with the Japanese
government on collaborating toward this goal, she said.
As a new fisheries policy, the EU is presenting a
proposal for preserving the sustainability of fisheryresources and fishing activities. The EU is trying toconvince fishermen that they can recover their current
investments by ensuring sustainability. EU fishing vessels
are obliged to operate in compliance with EU rules inareas outside the EU as well. International cooperation
is essential for the implementation of such regulations,Damanaki said.
Shirasu observed that the true cause of IUU fishingactivities can be found in the overcapacity of fishingvessels. In the international community, it is recognizedthat the overcapacity is created by the move tobuild large-scale purse-seine fishing vessels and theDamanaki (right) and Shirasu exchange each other's books.

promotion of catch efficiency. He noted that the tunaregional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs)
recommended at their recent joint meeting the freezing of
the capacity of large-scale purse-seine fishing vessels. He
said he is interested to know what kinds of measures theEU will take with regard to this recommendation.
Further, Shirasu drew Damanaki's attention to theplight of Japanese fishermen who are suffering from therepercussions of radioactive pollution in the wake of thegreat earthquake and tsunami in northeastern Japan in
March last year. Rigorous monitoring surveys are being
conducted in Japan, giving utmost attention to ensuring
the safety of seafood. He requested the EU Commissioner's
understanding of this effort and cooperation for an early
resumption of Japanese seafood exports to the EU.
Regarding the purse-seine issue, Damanaki made clear
the EU's policy of not increasing the capacity of largescale purse-seine fishing vessels from the present level.
As a step to implement this policy, the EU will abolish thesubsidy for constructing new purse-seine fishing vessels.

ISARIBI: First published by the Japan Fisheries Association in October 1992.
JFA President: Toshiro Shirasu; Editor: Masashi Nishimura

ISARIBI NO.74

AUG. 2012

She also said that the EU is considering making fishingrights transferable with the aim to achieve a balance
based on the market principle.
With respect to the issue of the EU’s import restriction
on Japanese seafood, Damanaki said that she visited
Onagawa in Miyagi Prefecture and other areas affectedby the earthquake and tsunami and confirmed that
supply of safe fish is ensured through a good monitoring

program. It is necessary to take appropriate measuresagainst negative rootless rumors based on objective
information and data, she said, adding that the EU’s
import regulation will be reviewed in September.
Before closing the meeting, Damanaki requested
Japan's participation in an international meeting on
overcapacity the EU plans to hold in Brussels next year.

East Japan DisasterA Year After the East Japan Earthquake/Tsunami

Restoration of fisheries in the disaster areais the key to regional recovery
More than a year has passed since the great earthquake and tsunami attacked the northeastern Pacific coast ofJapan on March 11, 2011. During the past year, the mass media in Japan has been reporting in various ways about
the memories of the disaster and efforts toward restoration. The Japan Fisheries Association (JFA) prepared a special
feature on the disaster in the May and June issues of its Japanese-language publicity bulletin, “Suisankai.” In thisissue of ISARIBI, we present a partial summary of this report in the hope to express gratitude to the people who gave
support for the restoration, both from Japan and overseas, and also to seek understanding of the readers around theworld about the long and arduous journey toward rehabilitation that await fishermen of the disaster-hit area.

Nearly one and a half years have passed since
the great earthquake and tsunami occurred in
the area along the northern Japan Pacific coast,called Sanriku, in March last year, causing unbearable
hardship to many residents and fishermen.
The natural calamity left tremendous scars: morethan 15,000 people died, and the society and economy,
centering on coastal fishing communities and the fishingindustry, were dealt a catastrophic blow. In many places
the restoration of fishing ports, fish markets and fisheryprocessing facilities has not yet even started, exposing
the vast magnitude of the disaster.
Under such difficult circumstances, residents,
officials of local autonomies and those in the fishingindustry have made arduous and enduring efforts forthe rehabilitation and recovery of the fishing industry.
All concerned, including the government, privatecorporations, non-profit organizations, the fisheries
industry and citizens, extended assistance from theirrespective standpoints to rehabilitate the affected
region.
The earthquake and tsunami that occurred last year
were characterized by the vastly-spread damage in thecoastal areas because of the enormous strength of thetsunami. The damage was concentrated on fisheries andaquaculture and its related infrastructure such as fishingports, markets, fishery product processing facilities andshipbuilding yards.
Industries in the affected region are mostly related
to fisheries in some way or another, including seafood
processing and distribution, shipbuilding, transportation,retailing, and tourism. Many local residents had been
employed in these industries. In this sense, it is noexaggeration to say that restoration of the affected
region is tantamount to the restoration of fisheries.

Looking back a year from March 11, 2011
1. Occurrence of the great earthquake andtsunami

At 2:46 p.m. on Friday, March 11, 2011, the giant
earthquake of a magnitude 9.0, the greatest scale
on record, occurred with the epicenter in the area off
Sanriku. The earthquake induced a great tsunami which
assaulted fishing cities and towns, fishing ports andcommunities along the Pacific coast of the Tohoku Region,
northern Japan, claiming the lives of many people andcausing catastrophic destruction of the area.

2. Damage by the tsunami

A large part of the damage by the disaster was
brought about by the massive tsunami, with destruction
concentrating along the seaside area.
According to the announcement by the National Police
Agency on April 4, 2012, the death toll was estimatedto have reached 15,856, with 3,084 missing and 6,025
injured. Totally destroyed houses amounted to 129,489
units and partly destroyed ones reached 255,652
units. Roads were demolished at 3,938 locations, with78 bridges broken down. Landslides occurred in 205
locations and 45 embankments were torn down.
The Government's Cabinet Office estimated that theoverall damage value reached Yen16.9 trillion, of which
agriculture, forestry and fisheries accounted for Yen1.9trillion. Notably, damage to fisheries exceeded Yen1.2
trillion. Catastrophic blows occurred to the infrastructureof fisheries cities and towns, centering on the Pacific coastprefectures of Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima, withfisheries-related infrastructure including fishing vessels,fishing ports, aquaculture facilities, markets and seafood
processing plants. Fishing communities and fishing

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grounds also suffered devastating losses.
Most of the fishing vessels destroyed were coastal
vessels of less than five tons. Also ravaged were largetype vessels licensed by the Minister of Agriculture,
Forestry and Fisheries, which were based in the ports
along the Sanriku coast. Interview surveys with fishingorganizations related to saury fishing, squid jigging,purse-seine and bottom trawling indicated that 176 outof 1,575 fishing vessels belonging to their members
were utterly destroyed.

supply chain had been established, which linked fisheries
production with landings, processing, and distribution to
consuming markets.
In Kesennuma, for instance, many processors wereengaged in the processing of tuna (including skipjack andmarlin) as well as shark fin products and wakame seaweed
and a variety of canned fish. In point of fact more than
70% of the 70,000 people in the city were related tofisheries in some way or other. These--processing plants,
cold-store warehouses and chilling equipment—supporting
the employees were all swept away by the tsunami,
inflicting serious losses to the city's economy.
Fisheries are thus located at the center of the Sanriku
area's economy. It is not an exaggeration to say that all
the industries in the region--including fisheries production,processing, distribution, marketing, tourism and local
gift making--are related to fisheries to various extents.
Therefore, while landing volume and value in the threeprefectures are said to have occupied about 10% of theoverall national volume and value, the share of fisheryprocessing could have reached 30% of the overall output.
All these were lost after the earthquake and tsunami.

Importance of fisheries production in Sanriku

When we look at the weight of fisheries productionof the three Tohoku prefectures of Iwate, Miyagi and
Fukushima--three of the seven prefectures that wereaffected--marine fishery production in these prefectures
accounted for 440,000 tons, or 11% of the overallnational production, with aquaculture production
totaling 176,000 tons, or 16%. Thus fisheries/
aquaculture production in the three prefectures
combined exceeded 10% of the national total. Tunaproduction accounted for 15%, with marlins at 28%,sharks 54%, saury 26%, Pacific cod 44%, and abalone
31%. In aquaculture, oysters held 26%, sea squirt
95%, kombu kelp 37% and wakame seaweed 74%. The
above figures show that there are a number of species
that held high proportions in the national production.
Further, a number of fishing ports held top landing
volumes for major species in Japan. Kesennuma in
Miyagi Prefecture, for example, ranked top in landingsof fresh skipjack tuna. Onagawa, also in Miyagi, topped
in landings of saury on Japan's main island, Honshu.
This shows that the Sanriku coast provided importantlanding ports and bases to fishing vessels from otherareas that operate off Sanriku--an area having richfisheries productivity.

Position of fisheries in the Sanriku region inJapanAs stated above, it is obvious that fisheries along thecoast of Sanriku have a significant importance in Japan'sfisheries--not only the catch but also aquaculture andprocessing. Therefore, it will become extremely difficult
for the fisheries industry to fulfill its mission of ensuring
a stable supply of seafood to the Japanese people unlessthe fisheries in the disaster-hit Sanriku recover.
Furthermore, if the fisheries remain crippled and thefishery resources in this area are left unused, it will lead tolosses on a national scale from the perspective of a stablesupply of seafood to the people. It is no exaggeration to
say there will be no progress for Japan's fisheries without
the rehabilitation and restoration of the fisheries in theearthquake-stricken region.

Concentration of fishery product processing

Another important characteristic of the Sanriku area
was the huge concentration of fish processing facilities
in close proximity to the fishing ports so that landings
and processing are closely linked to each other. A(This article continues in the next issue of ISARIBI)MEL Japan NewsMEL Japan -labeled products make appearance
at mass retailers

To date MEL Japan-marked products have beensold at events such as the Stardust Shrimp Festivalor the Pole-and-line Skipjack Fair. However, suchoccasions were of limited nature.
But, at long last, the way was paved for selling MEL
Japan-labeled seafood widely. With the coming of theearly summer skipjack season, some major department
stores and mass retailers in Japan began marketing MEL
Japan products.

Ginza Mitsukoshi

The first marketer was Mitsukoshi Department Store
which sponsored the “Kochi Prefecture Fair,” April 25May 1, at its store in Ginza, the best-known and most
fashionable shopping quarters in Tokyo.
On such an occasion, it is customary to exhibit theprefecture's products with the attendance of the producers
from the prefecture. In the case of Mitsukoshi, however,permanent stall tenants of Mitsukoshi sold products usingPage 3ISARIBI NO.74the prefecture's commodities. Yoshikawa Suisan Co., atenant stall selling fresh fish, proposed to Mitsukoshi tooffer the skipjack caught by trolling line fishery in Kochi
prefecture as a bargain product of the fair, knowing thatthe fishery has obtained the MEL Japan certification.
Kenji Suzuki, an assistant buyer of Yoshikawa Suisan,
said: "I would like to communicate to our customers
that fishermen are making efforts to manage theresources. I wanted customers to know that fishermen
are not greedy hunters who just want to catch and sell
their products. Many of our ethical customers felt joy inknowing that they are contributing to the conservationof the environment through their purchase of fish ormeat. We may have to provide higher-level informationon the products, not only on tastiness or good quality."

AUG. 2012
Jun Fukui, chief of Yoshikawa Suisan's fish section
at Ginza Mitsukoshi, observed that "skipjack caught bytrolling line fisher has high quality as the fish is handledwith special care. We would like to support producers
by publicizing MEL Japan." He said that the store willcontinue to attach the MEL Japan-label as long as theproducts are made available.

Okuwa

Okuwa is a mass retailer operating in eight westernJapanese prefectures mainly in Wakayama (the otherseven are Osaka, Nara, Mie, Hyogo, Aichi and Gifu). It
started sales of MEL Japan-certified frozen skipjack caught
by the distant-water pole-and-line fishery at all of its 172
outlets from May 1. This marked the first full-scale sales ofMEL Japan-labeled products at a mass retailer.

Daiei

Daiei Inc., a major nationwide supermarket chain,started from May 19 sales of MEL Japan-labeled distantwater pole-and-line caught skipjack at its 76 direct sales
outlets in the Kanto region centering on Tokyo.
Isao Takazawa, chief merchandiser of the company's
fish section, talked about the background of introducing
MEL Japan-labeled products as follows: “The state offishery resources is now deteriorating, and skipjack is
no exception. Distributors have so far been indifferent
to the state of the resources, but if the present situation
continues, the seafood business may not be able to stand,with the fish diet possibly collapsing. We have beenenhancing public awareness toward the environmental
issues, including the acquisition of ISO. Against thisbackdrop, we decided to deal with seafood handled withappropriate concern to the stock status.”
Daiei’s move was prompted by the fact that Minami
Shokuhin Co., which has supplied skipjack products
to Daiei for about 30 years, has obtained MEL Japancertification.
Daiei envisages expanding sales of MEL Japan-labeledproducts to its 204 direct outlets throughout Japan fromJune.

TopicsJapan's seafood imports in FY2011 on
an uptrend againJPhotos: Displays of MEL Japan-labeled products at major retailstores.From top: Ginza Mitsukoshi (by courtesy of THE SUI-KEI);
Daiei, and Okuwa (THE SUIKEI).

apan's seafood imports in fiscal 2011 (April2011-March 2012) increased 2.7% from the previous
year to 2,769,294 tons worth Yen1,496.7 billion, up
7.3% in value, according to import clearance statistics
made public by the Finance Ministry.
The top three commodities in terms of value wereshrimp at 204,948 tons worth Yen176,375.38 million,tunas at 2.78 million tons worth about Yen170 billion, andsalmon at 266,006 tons worth Yen160,889.54 million.
Japan's seafood imports had been on a decline fromyear to year from a peak of 3.82 million tons in 2001, butshowed an upturn again in 2010 to 2.6 million tons andcontinued growth in 2011 as well.

The readers are cordially invited to send their comments on articles in this issue to mnishimu@suisankai.or.jp--Editor