ISARIBI NO.78

ISSN1346-2512

ISARIBIJapanFisheries
Association Fishing Fire

漁火NO.78, JULY 2013
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

MEL Japan NewsT

MEL Japan-labeled products promoted
at prestigious Tokyo Department Store's fairhe number of fisheries certified under
the Marine Eco-label Japan (MEL Japan)
scheme has increased to 19. These
include fisheries targeting a variety of species,
such as skipjack tuna, alfonsino, corbiculaclam, sand lance, stardust shrimp and snow
crab. However, it has not been easy to boost
the sales of certified products as some fisheriescater only to local consumption. It has thus
been the wish of the MEL Japan Secretariat to
publicize the bulk of certified products at one
time in one place. But this wish has not beenrealized because it means additional financial
burden on the part of MEL Japan productmarketers.
It was then found that a MEL Japan Product
Fair had been planned at the prestigious
Mitsukoshi Department Store in the Ginza--thebest known and fashionable shopping districtin Tokyo. The organizer was Yoshikawa SuisanCo., which operates a fresh fish section in thedepartment store.
The company had so far sold troll-caught
skipjack, with an emphasis on that productbeing a MEL Japan product, at the Kochi
Prefecture Fair held at Mitsukoshi late April
last year. Because the MEL Japan label had notbeen so familiar with consumers at that time,the event did not have enough power to boost
sales of the product. But the secretariat wastold later that the MEL Japan label attracted theinterest of some consumers.

A variety of MEL Japan products on display

This time, Yoshikawa Suisan, having experiencein arranging a seafood sales section best fitted
to a department store, proposed to Mitsukoshi toorganize a MEL Japan product fair, thus making
a breakthrough for the presentation of a variety
of products at that event. Kenji Katagiri, assistantsales manager of Mitsukoshi's Food & Restaurant
Business Section, observed: "Our department
store has been looking for high-grade productsthat are safe and secure, and that can make asocial contribution through sales. Those products
should be the kind that cannot be dealt with easily
by supermarkets. I believe MEL Japan-labeledproducts fully match with such conditions."
He further said: "What we are doing is topresent the products with a future perspective,

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

ISARIBI NO.78

JULY 2013

rather than the kind of products that can be soldright now. I consider customers having such aperspective would react to the MEL Japan label.
This time we placed a pre-notice for opening thefair in the catalog issued by the Food Section
every month. From now, we will eventually
publicize the products through flyers from time totime in the hope to make them our basic items."
The fair was conducted for two weeks fromMarch 27 to April 9. Displayed during the fair
were skipjack, spotted mackerel and alfonsino
from Kochi Prefecture, corbicula clams from
Jusan Lake, Aomori Prefecture, and snow crabfrom Sakaiminato in Tottori Prefecture. Stardust
shrimp from Yui, Shizuoka Prefecture had beenplanned but unfortunately there was no deliveryof the products at the time of the fair.
Atsushi Fukui, head of the Ginza store of
Yoshikawa Suisan, noted that "the customers,
who bought skipjack at the Kochi Fair last year,
visited our section again. To customers who wereinterested in the MEL Japan label, we tried toexplain the fishing methods so they can better
understand the intent of the scheme. But ourcustomers rather give priority to high-quality
products than labeling. We would like to match
good taste with the MEL Japan label."skippers, including a fundraiser in Hawaii featuring
fishermen from Discovery Channel's popular
reality show "Deadliest Catch." In total, more than
190 fishing and processing industry participants
made contributions to help northeastern Japan's
fishing industry rebuild its fishing and processing
infrastructure.
AFIRM says 100 percent of the money
collected goes directly to relief efforts with zeroadministrative overhead. The 2012 donations willfund 10 projects that will aid the Northern Japanfishing fleets' recovery.
The trick, says United Fishermen of Alaska
Executive Director Mark Vinsel, AFIRM's secretarytreasurer, is to get the most out of the donations.
"We only send money to things that are tangibleprojects."
Vinsel says Linda Ohama, a Vancouver, British
Columbia-based filmmaker who volunteered
her services, proved instrumental to finding
the best projects. Ohama, who traveled to theregion, helped identify opportunities to help, andtranslated the Japanese fishermen's requests.
--Linc Bedrosian(Reprinted from the National Fisherman,February 2013)

Radioactive survey
Surveys on radioactive
substances continue steadily

Aid from Alaska

IAlaskans donate $375,000 to aid
Japanese fishermen
10 tsunami recovery projects fundedJ

apanese fishermen are still recovering fromthe effects of the March 2011 tsunami, but
the task has become a little easier thanks toAlaska seafood processors and fishermen's 2012
donations totaling more than $375,000.
The Alaska Fishing Industry Relief Mission,
the Juneau, Alaska-based organiztion that
initiated the relief fund shortly after the tsunami
devastated Northern Japan fishing communities,coordinated the donations. According to theorganization, Seattle-based Unisea, American
Seafoods and Glacier Fish Co. encouraged
donations from the vessel, plant and office
employees, and then matched the contributions.
Bering Sea crab and groundfish fleets added
major donations collected from vessels andmmediately after the accident at the Tokyo
Electric Power Co. Fukushima Nuclear Power
Plant in the wake of the great earthquake
and tsunami in eastern Japan in March 2011, theFisheries Agency of the Japanese Government
launched monitoring surveys on radioactive
substances in fishery products in Japan, in close
collaboration with the Ministry of Health, Labourand Welfare, related prefectural governments andindustry organizations. The basic goal the agency
upheld was to ensure a stable supply of safe foodto the Japanese people.
A framework was built so as to prevent market
distribution of the products having radioactivity inexcess of the benchmark level through restriction
on shipments. Accordingly, the seafood now
distributed in the market can be said to be safe
from contamination. But, what guarantees thesafe distribution of seafood on a continuous basis
is the steady monitoring surveys.
Masanori Miyahara, Deputy Director-General

Page 2

ISARIBI NO.78
of the Fisheries Agency, says that surveys may
have to be continued at least 10 years fromnow, or semi-perennially, depending on thecourse of event.
The benchmark value of radioactive cesium,
which had been set at 500 becquerels (Bqs)
on a provisional basis, was reduced to 100 Bqs
from April last year--the most rigorous level inthe world as compared with 1,200 Bqs in theEuropean Union and 1,000 Bqs in the UnitedStates.
Although any value over 100 Bqs does notnecessarily mean immediate risk, some suppliers
and marketers have set their own standards thatare even below the 100-Bq mark.
At any rate, the determination of a benchmark
value is crucial, but it is very time-consuming tomeasure the contents of radioactive substancesaccurately.
The Fisheries Agency is now entrusting theimplementation of the monitoring surveys to theresearch center of the Marine Ecology ResearchInstitute in Onjuku, Chiba Prefecture, west ofTokyo.
In the surveys, edible parts are taken fromsamples collected from industry organizations in
14 prefectures. Those parts are processed intominced form and are sent to an analytical centerfor close analysis.
The work involves detailed processes,
including identification of the fish species,
size measurements, data input and making
samples. An average 30 to 40 samples have tobe analyzed in a day---on an exceptional day
as many as 100 samples are processed. The
work is carried out with the help of 27 part-timeworkers. The results of the surveys are madepublic in their entirety on the Fisheries Agency's
website.

International exchanges
Russian fisheries leader
exchanges views with JFA headon bilateral fisheries relations

On March 3-9, 2013, Mr. Yuri Kokorev, thenPresident of the All-Russia Association ofFisheries Enterprises, Entrepreneurs andExporters (VARPE), visited Japan to survey thesituation of fisheries in Japan.

JULY 2013
Mr. Kokorev paid a courtesy call on Toshiro
S h i ra s u , P r e s i d e n t o f t h e J a p a n F i s h e r i e sAssociation (JFA), on March 4 at the JFA office inTokyo to exchange views on Japan-Russia fisheries
relations and seafood consumption trends inJapan.
Both leaders reconfirmed the need forcooperation and agreed to continue the current
cooperative relationship in the years ahead.
VARPE, a private-sector fisheries organization
like the JFA, is a member of the International
Coalition of Fisheries Associations (ICFA), of which
the JFA is also a member. As Shirasu and Kokorev
had already been acquainted with each otherthrough ICFA meetings, the exchange of views
was carried out in a friendly atmosphere.
After the meeting, Kokorev flew to Hokkaido,
where he met with high-ranking officials of
the prefectural government and the Hokkaido
Federation of Fisheries Cooperative Associations.
He actively made tours of fisheries sites in
Hokkaido, including salmon hatcheries.
In a later development, Kokorev stepped down
as president at the VARPE annual meeting on
March 26, where Mr. Alexandr Fomin, Deputy
Head of the Russian Federal Agency for Fishery,
was elected the new president.
Mr. Fomin is now serving as Russia's chiefdelegate to the Japan-Russia government-levelfisheries negotiations. He will continue to serve hispost at the Fisheries Agency, even after assuming
the VARPE presidency.

JFA and Chile discuss promotionof seafood consumption

On March 26, a Chilean delegation visited theJapan Fisheries Association to exchange
views on ways to promote seafood
consumption in their respective countries.
The 8-strong Chilean team was headed by
Undersecretary of Fisheries, Mr. Pablo Alberto
Galilea Carrillo.
At a meeting in the JFA conference room, which
followed the delegation's courtesy call on JFA
President Toshiro Shirasu, Mr. Galilea stated thatthe “per-capita annual seafood consumption in
Chile is only 7 kg, less than one tenth of livestock
meat consumption which stands at 82 kg.”
"The government," he continued, "has set a
policy to expand domestic seafood consumption
but the progress is slow. Major reasons are thelong-established habit of eating meat in thePage 3

ISARIBI NO.78
country and the relatively high prices for seafood
as compared with those for livestock meat. In
point of fact, the high price has been a majorbottleneck in introducing fish menus into lunch
services at schools and various organizations.""As seafood exports and domestic seafood
sales constitute Chile's major national industry,
the government is striving to strengthen safety
and hygienic controls over seafood as the top
national priority," Galilea said.
JFA representatives explained the situation ofseafood production and consumption in Japan
as well as the issues related to the promotionof seafood consumption. The two parties
recognized that the two countries are facing
similar issues.
At the end of the meeting, the JFA presented
for reference two booklets: "Fish Diet Network"and "Fish Handbook," which the Chileandelegates received with much interest.
Galilea expressed his hope to continue theexchange of information and views in the days
ahead.

Whaling
Sea Shepherd blamed for holding
the court order in contempt
Makoto Ito
President, Kyodo Senpaku Kaisha, Ltd.

The Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR)
and Kyodo Senpaku Kaisha, Ltd. (KS)filed, on 11 February, 2013, a Motion
fo r C o n t e m p t a g a i n s t t h e S e a S h e p h e rdConservation Society (SSCS) for breaching theInjunction Order issued by the U.S. Ninth Circuit
Court of Appeals on 17 December 2012.
The background leading to this action can besummarized as follows.
On 18 December 2011, the ICR and KS,
along with the research vessels' Master, filed
a lawsuit with the United States District Court
for the Western District of Washington against
the SSCS and its founder Paul Watson, seeking
the court's ruling and Preliminary Injunctionthat would prevent the SSCS and Watson fromengaging in activities at sea that could cause
injuries to the crew and damage to the vessels
conducting cetacean research in the Antarctic.

JULY 2013

Sea Shepherd vessel (right) rams at a vessel in Japanese research fleet in

the Antarctic (Photo: ICR)The SSCS is based in Friday Harbor, Washington,on the U.S. Pacific coast.
On 19 March 2012, the court decided that it
would not award the Preliminary Injunction.
Dissatisfied with the court's decision, the ICR
and KS filed a Notice of Appeal seeking review by
the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals of the March 19
Order entered by the District Court.
In December 2012, the 9th Circuit Court ofAppeals issued its Order that it would preliminarily
enjoin the SSCS, Watson and anyone "acting
in concert with them" from physically attacking
the Japanese research vessels or any person onthem and from navigating in a manner that is
likely to endanger safe navigation at sea. The
Order also prohibited the SSCS and Watson fromapproaching the Japanese research vessels "anycloser than 500 yards" when the research vessels
are navigating on the open sea.
On 25 February, 2013, the 9th Circuit Court ofAppeals issued the Court’s Opinion which reversed
the District Court's original ruling on all counts,ordered the appointment of another judge by theDistrict Court for the case, and maintained its
Injunction Order "until further order" of the 9thCircuit Court of Appeals.
However, the SSCS engaged in repeatedharassment activities in the Antarctic in disregardof the Injunction. Accordingly, the ICR and KS
filed a Motion for Contempt against the SSCS for
breaching the Preliminary Injunction Order issuedby the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on 17December 2012.
It is the sincere hope of both the ICR and KS
that the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals will issue arigid ruling against the SSCS.

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