ISARIBI NO.86

ISSN1346-2512

ISARIBIJapanFisheries
Association Fishing Fire

漁火NO. 86, JULY 2015
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

Japanese food promotion event overseas

Japanese exporters promote the excellence ofJapanese food in London

An event to promote Japan's exports ofagriculture, forestry and fishery products
and foods in general was organized by
the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO)
in London on May 5, 2015. At the event,representatives of export organizations for five
major commodities--seafood, rice, beef, tea andflower—appealed the attraction of their products tolocal buyers and culinary experts.
The promotional event was also attended by
Japan’s Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso andMinister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
Yoshimasa Hayashi.
Representing the seafood sector, Toshiro Shirasu,
President of the Japan Fisheries Association (JFA),
stressed the excellence of Japan's seafood to theparticipants.
Nippon Suisan Kaisha, Ltd., Tatsumi Frozen
Food Co., Ltd (Hokkaido) and Suzuhiro (Odawarain Kanagawa Prefecture) made presentations,
respectively, on farmed yellowtail, scallops andkamaboko (a traditional fish paste product).
At the event--the first of its kind with five exportorganizations participating--special one-hourseminars were held by each organization to present
the cultural background, characteristics and otherinformation regarding their commodities.
After the seminars, a reception was opened
with a toast by Minister Hayashi at which dishes
using Japanese-produced food materials wereserved. About 350 people representing importers
and buyers from local supermarkets, restaurants
and hotels, as well as the mass media, enjoyed
the Japanese food. Conspicuously popular fooditems at the reception were sushi (using yellowtail,scallops and beef) and yellowtail shabu-shabu--aJapanese hot-pot dish whose distinguishing featureShirasu addressing the participants

is paper-thin slices of fish that are swished aroundin a boiling broth for a few seconds and then dipped
into a sauce and eaten immediately.
Washoku is a World Cultural Heritage
At the seminar organized by the Council to
Promote Exports of Fishery Products and Processed
Seafood, President Shirasu introduced the JFA andemphasized the charm of Japan’s seafood as follows:
Washoku (traditional Japanese cuisine) is now
attracting attention all over the world after it wasregistered as a World Intangible Cultural Heritageof UNESCO in 2013. One survey has told us that
Washoku enjoys the highest popularity among
other globally popular cuisines, such as Italian andChinese.
The word “Washoku” may instantly remind manyof such dishes as sushi, sashimi and tempura. But
we must recall that these dishes mainly consist ofseafood. In other words, one cannot tell much about

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

ISARIBI NO.86

JULY 2015Washoku without mentioning fish.
Japanese seafood has an excellent reputation for
its high quality, tastiness and high-level safety. We
are proud that Japanese fishery products are widely
loved by consumers around the world.
To this day, however, Japan has been importing
many kinds of seafood from foreign countries as
the size of its domestic seafood market is large. For
this reason, there has not been a high incentive
among Japanese seafood producers to export theirproducts overseas. The annual value of processedfishery products traded in Japan totaled 3 trillion
yen last year while the export value stood at only
233.7 billion yen, slightly less than 10% of the total
volume.
This situation may not allow us to provide
adequately Washoku using Japanese seafood to thepeople around the world. It is our sincere wish that
more and more people will come to know Japanese
seafood in which we Japanese take pride.
Japan has the richest fishing ground in theworld
It is said that the fishing ground that has thehighest productivity in the world is the North Pacific.
Japan has the most abundant fishing ground in theworld. I would like to point out that more than 3,000
species of fish inhabit the sea surrounding Japanas it has an area with a long longitudinal stretch

Minister Hayashi (center)

straddling subarctic, temperate and subtropicalzones, where warm and cold currents converge.
Japan also has prominent aquaculture technology,
which leads to the production of the most
multifarious fish species in the world. We would
like to step up our efforts to introduce many typesof fresh and safe seafoods to the people of the world
through aquaculture.
Japan will boost its seafood exports so thatthe people of the world can enjoy our seafood
Lately the Japanese government set a policy goal
to expand the annual seafood export value to 350
billion yen by 2020. This prompted the fisheries
industry to establish an all-industry Council for
Promotion of Exports of Fishery Products andProcessed Seafood, which is aimed at bolstering
further the effort to enlarge exports of seafood andprocessed seafood products.
Therefore, today I am addressing you on theexcellence of Japanese seafood, not only as presidentof the JFA but also as a representative of thatCouncil.
Meanwhile, it is to be noted that the EuropeanUnion, including the United
Kingdom, is now requiring
exporting countries including
Japan to obtain HACCP (Hazard
Analysis and Critical Control
Point) certification in order tosell their seafood to consumersof the EU member countries.
There are a number of seafood
processing facilities alreadycertified as being in compliancewith HACCP requirements of theUnited States. But there are only
30 such facilities certified as being
in compliance with EU HACCPrequirements.
However, measures have been

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implemented recently in Japan to promote theacquisition of HACCP certification for the EU.
The JFA, the certification agency for HACCP USA,and based on its expertise, is supporting Japanese
exporters wishing to obtain EU HACCP certificationin order to promote seafood exports to that area.
We have already received applications forcertification from many exporters, and I foresee thenumber of certifications will increase drastically inthe days ahead.
Today the participants will hear presentations
by three Japanese companies that provide tasty
Japanese seafood--namely, producers of yellowtail,scallops and kamaboko.
Naturally, these three companies have EU
HACCP certification. In point of fact, Suzuhiro, thekamaboko maker, obtained it in March this year,with the JFA extending assistance. I am convincedthat this seminar will deepen the knowledge ofthe participants about the excellence of Japanese
seafood, Shirasu said.
***
After Shirasu’s address, Ms. Yoko Matsuoka ofSuzuhiro made a presentation on “Kamaboko as a
traditional Japanese food,” which was followed by“Japan-produced scallops” by Mr. Akira Tatsumi,President of Tatsumi Frozen Food and “Yellowtail
farmed in Japan” by Mr. Takeshi Shima of Nippon
Suisan and Mr. Soichiro Asaka of Nordic Seafoods-each emphasizing the charm of their products.

Japan’s seafood exports

Japan's exports of fishery products--Objectives and issues--

from a report of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries

In Japan, the agriculture, forestry and fisheryproduct markets as well as the food markets
in general are on a shrinking trend owing tothe progression of an aging population combinedwith a decreasing birth rate. On the other hand,the scale of the world's food market is projected todouble from 340 trillion yen in 2009 to 680 trillion
yen in 2020. Notably, the market scale of Asia as awhole, including China and India, is estimated totriple from 82 trillion yen to 229 trillion yen during
the same period because of, among other factors,
the increasing number of wealthy people backed
by their rising incomes as well as the ever-growing
population.
It is essential for Japan to take advantage of thisgrowth in the world food market in order to expand
its exports of farm and fishery products and otherfoods, and develop Japan's agricultural, forestry
and fisheries into growth industries. Under thecircumstances, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestryand Fisheries has established a goal to expand theexport value of agriculture, forestry, fishery and otherfood products to a scale of one trillion yen by 2020
and in August 2013 developed a nation-to-nationand commodity-to- commodity strategy towards theachievement of that goal.
In June 2014 the Ministry set up a committee
within its National Council for Promotion of Exportsof Agriculture, Forestry and Fishery Products for
implementing the export strategy. The Ministrydeveloped a concrete policy to analyze the export
results on items of importance and to validate
the policy based on the export strategy in close
cooperation with other government ministries
and agencies, related private-sector
organizations and industry stakeholders.
Regarding the export environment, theMinistry identified issues, on a commodityto-commodity basis, to which priority
should be given.
Given below are charts related to Japan’s
export of seafood, taken and edited fromthe “Report on the Issues of Export
Environment for Agriculture, Forestry andFishery Products and Food” (2014/2015)
compiled by the Ministry on the basis of theresults of the discussions on the issues. Also
given are charts on marine product exportby country and product published in Trade
Statistics of Japan.
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Japan's Strategy for Marine Product Export
It is envisioned that Japan's annual marine product export value will grow from 170 billion yen in2012 to 350 billion yen by 2020.

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