ISARIBI NO.54

ISSN1346-2512

NO.54 APRIL 2007

Japan
Fisheries
Association

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

JFA President’s Lecture

The Changing Environment surrounding Fisheries
Demand for seafood is expanding worldwide while fish consumption is
declining among young Japanese: JFA President Nakasu

Isao Nakasu, President of the Japan Fisheries
Association, delivered a lecture at a meeting of theJapan Fisheries Journalists’ Association on November
27, 2006. Commenting on the changes in the recent
situation surrounding fishery products and food in general,
Nakasu pointed to (1) the expanding consumption ofseafood in China and Western countries while the world’s
fishery production has come to a limit; (2) the increasinguse of grains for bio-energy; and (3) the tendency among
young Japanese to eat less fish. He noted, as his personalview, that “a critical situation is emerging around the
procurement of food.”
Increased production of food supported
population growthPreviously, there had been debates on food security or
the possible advent of a food crisis. But we all took it for
granted that, in actuality, the time when we have to facesuch a crisis would never come about. When I look into therecent situation surrounding fisheries, however, I cannot
help but feeling that a critical situation may be creeping
towards us, although I qualify this as my personal view.
We can trace the history of food supply in Japan roughly
as follows. There are historical data that show Japan was
inhabited by about 250,000 people in the Jomon Period about
12,000-13,000 years ago, and about 600,000 people in the
succeeding Yayoi Period from about 2300-2400 to 1700 years
ago. Scholars now believe that the people from these two
periods were the ancestors of the present-day Japanese.
World seafood production trend(Unit:10,000 tons)
1970
1990
2000
World total
6,274
9,834
12,442
EU
731
742
758
N. America
405
729
654
Japan
874
1,017
574
China
407
1,475
4,103
Asia
971
2,133
2,727

The population then grew to 4.5 million by the Nara Period(710-784 A.D.). Historical data show that the population
subsequently continued a gradual increase to reach 12
million by the time around the end of the Toyotomi
government to the beginning of the Edo Period (1603-1868).
Looking back into the history of Japan, we find three
periods when the population saw a rapid growth. The firstis the first half of the Edo period when the population
doubled to 26 million. The speedy growth of the populationin these years after the Warring States Period is ascribed tothe stabilization of the central government, theencouragement of agrarian development by the lords ofprovinces, and the well-established regional governancethroughout Japan.
Contrary to our expectation, the population did notincrease visibly in the latter half of the Edo Period. We
have reports that severe famines, such as the Great Tenmei
Famine of 1782-87, caused the population to shrink by 56%. Toward the end of the Edo Period, however, thepopulation grew again as manufacturing industries
developed in the rural areas as well, and the food production
increased through technological renovations.
The second conspicuous population growth occurred in
the period from the end of the Edo Period to the Meiji Period(1868-1911). The domestic population swelled from 38
million to 60 million.
The third growth period, as you can easily imagine, cameafter World War II. Japan’s population, which stood at 75
million in 1945, sharply expanded to 124 million. But the
population that continued growth over such a long term
has now come to a turning point as Japan’s birth rate has
begun to decline.
When we look at the three rapid growth periods, we cometo know that the increase in the postwar period differs incontents from the first two periods. In the former, theincreased food production supported the population
growth. The increase in population in these periods wasbrought about by increased food production as a result of
the expansion of arable land, the spread of irrigation

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

ISARIBI NO.54

APRIL 2007

Livestock is raised by cereals. Four kilogramsof corn is needed to produce one kilogram of
1960
2000
poultry meat. In the case of pork and beef, evenarable land
1.27 billion ha
1.37 billion ha larger quantities of cereals are needed.
grain harvest space
650 million ha
670 million ha Increased consumption of livestock products
grain production
900 million tons
2.1 billion tons causes the use of cereals in quantities several
grain harvest per unit
1.4tons/ha
3.1 tons/ha times larger than in previous years.
India is in a similar situation as China, but in3 billion
population
6.1 billion
the case of India, about one fourth of thesystems, species improvement, and the expanded populace is said to be vegetarians. Furthermore, as Hindus
production of fertilizers. Arable land, which comprised only do not eat beef and Muslims do not eat pork in India, theabout one million hectares in the Nara Period, expanded to consumption of livestock products may not expand so fast
6.08 million hectares in the peak year of 1962. But it was as in China. In terms of animal protein, the consumption ofmarine products could grow by a larger margin in India.
later reduced to the present 4.6 million hectares.
As a new issue to tackle, I can cite bio-fuel sources. Amid
Postwar population growth depended on the trend for rising oil prices, bio-fuel is attracting attention
as a leading clean substitute energy source. The mainstay
imports
Although arable land decreased in the postwar years (the fuels are corn-based ethanol and soybean-based bio-diesel
third fast growth period), food supply showed an increase oil. In the United States, about 12% of the corn produced iswhich resultantly supported the population growth as well. used for the production of ethanol. It is predicted that thisWhat was characteristic to this period in Japan was that proportion will rise to 24% by 2015. Considering that oil
imported food came to account for 60% of the overall national prices will continue an upturn for some time to come, it isfood supply while the nation could secure a domestic food anticipated that the use of corn for fuel production will
self-sufficiency rate of only 40%. In this respect, this period continue to increase, possibly becoming a factor to restrict
can be said to be epoch-making. In those years, Japan food consumption. I am one who feels a sense of crisis
became one of the richest nations in the world, but its about the present situation, and I am concerned that a foodcrisis could become a reality.
prosperity depended on imports.
As in the case of the sharp population growth in Japan,
the world’s population also increased supported by Seafood consumption in China expanded
increased food production. A table on the trend of the world fourfold in 10 years
When we direct our attention to seafood against the
population and grain production for the 40 years from 1960
to 2000 shows that grain production more than doubled background I have mentioned thus far, we find not so manyfrom 900 million tons to 2.1 billion tons while grain farmland drastic changes in the world’s fishery production: the totalremained more or less unchanged. Harvest volume per production now stands at 120 million tons, of which aroundhectare also jumped about 2.5-fold from 1.4 tons to 3.1 tons. 90 million tons come from the oceans. It is said that overIn this period, the world’s population also doubled from 3 70% of the fish species are either utilized to their maximum
limit or are in the state of depletion. While production has
billion to 6 billion.
The global population has increased by 420 million since almost hit the ceiling, consumption is growing rapidly
2000 but grain production has stayed at around 1,967.8 around the globe. Notably the growth in the European Union
million tons, showing that there has not been such a drastic (having 15 member countries) and China is phenomenal.
In the EU, groundfish are the mainstay of consumption,
increase in production per unit space as in the years after
the 1960s. In other words, production volume fell short of and harvests of those fish are decreasing while imports are
consumption volume, suggesting that the food stockpile increasing. Some analysts view that the demand for seafood
has increased as the consumption of livestock meat has
could decrease in the years ahead.
Another serious issue we are facing is the fact that food not recovered on fears that in the wake of the occurrence oflife is being enhanced in China, a country having a BSE and avian flu in Europe, those diseases could be
population of one fifth of the world’s total population. The contagious to humans. The sushi boom that followed further
White Paper on Agriculture for this year analyzes the prompted the growth in the consumption of fish in Westernchanges in calorie consumption by the Chinese by categories countries.
In China, seafood consumption expanded fourfold in theof staple foods and secondary components (side dishes).
The overall calorie intake showed an increase of about 10% decade from 1990 to 2000, causing the expansion of global
from 2,700 kilocalories in 1990 to 2,950 kilocalories in 2000, fish consumption and driving seafood prices higher.
while calorie intake from side dishes almost doubled from650 kilocalories to 1,050 kilocalories. Similar trends can be The tur ning point in changes has been
observed in all the countries that achieved rapid income passed
In economics, it is said that there are broadly two
growth. The transformation from a cereal-centered diet to
one attaching importance to secondary components is approaches to economic analysis. The first is the “bird’sadvancing in China having a population of 1.4 billion. This eye analysis,” which is designed to provide a macroscopic
means a rapid expansion in the consumption of livestock or view covering the large scope of the economy as a whole.
The second is the “insect-eye analysis,” designed to lookfishery products.

Trend in world population and grain production

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ISARIBI NO.54

APRIL 2007

into details in a narrowly limited area. Add to this, some
economists say there is the “fish-eye analysis,” designed
to grasp the change in tides (trends) in a sensitive way.
When some thing is valued at 100 yen, it is vital to determine
whether the value of the 100 yen is in the process of rising(strengthening) or in the process of falling (weakening).
When we try to look at the relations of supply and demand
from the “fish-eye” viewpoint, we will know changes are
occurring in the basic trends. Some experts assert that “thepoint of change” has already been passed.
However, it seems to me that the situation in Japansomewhat differs from the global trend. I feel so because,
while demand for fish has been increasing around the globe,
a contrary phenomenon is observed among young Japanesepeople, in other words, they tend to stay away from fishconsumption. I have with me the results of research on theestimated per-capita consumption by age bracket basedon the price paid by household in Japan for fresh fish.
According to that research, fish consumption shows anincrease as the age advances for people over 40, as often
pointed out. In 1980, the younger generation aged between
10 and 19 ate 10.3 grams of fresh fish on the average. In
1990, when this age group moved up to 20-29, consumption
declined to 6.7 grams, further dropping to 6.5 grams in 2000
when they became 30-39. This shows that fish consumption
shrank as age advanced.

W orld population estimates
2006
2010
2050
6.53 billion 6.83 billion 9.22 billion
Young Japanese visibly staying away fromfish consumption
Although Japanese are generally called the people of afish diet, they had not eaten fish in such a large amountuntil the end of World War II. The mainstay in the Japanesefood life had been rice, sweet potatoes and vegetables.
Probably they had been eating about one horse mackerel
once a week at best. But fish consumption became active
since 1960, partly helped by high economic growth starting
around that time. Japanese fish consumption reached a peakin the period from 1998 to 2001, with consumption starting
to decline in 2002. At present, the generation of so-called“baby boomers” tends to eat fish, supporting the overall
consumption volume. However, the population will diminish
as aging of this generation advances, with fish consumption
also falling off. On the other hand, the tendency of young
people of not eating fish is deemed to continue, showing aclear contrast with the rest of the world where consumptionof fish began increasing.
On the trade front, Japan’s overall imports of fisheryproducts in 2005 totaled 1.6 trillion yen, down 1.6% fromthe previous year, while those in January-September 2006
only edged up 0.7%. The import volume of mainstay fresh,frozen and chilled products in 2005 dropped 4.4% to 2.29
million tons, with their import value staying at 1.17 trillion
yen. The volume in January-September 2006 came to 1.46
million tons, with value also falling 1.3%. By contrast, importunit prices are considered to have surged about 10%.
Japan’s exports of fishery products, which had generally
stayed at around 10% of imports in volume, exceeded 20%
in 2006, while domestic production volume did not grow.
Here we can see the trend in seafood trade is beginning tochange in the same way as the consumption trend ischanging.

FAO COFIFAO COFI Highly Values the
Outcome of the Kobe RFMO
Joint Meeting—ICFA presents its comments to
FAO meeting in Rome—The 27th Session of the Committee on Fisheries of theUnited Nations Food and Agriculture Organization(FAO COFI) was held in Rome, March 5-9. Whatfollows are major results of the discussion at the meeting.
(1) Reinforcement of the functions of regional fisheries
management organizations
Japan reported on the results of the first joint meetingof regional tuna fisheries management organizations(RFMOs), held in Kobe, Japan, in January this year. The
achievement of the meeting was highly evaluated byseveral FAO member countries. FAO COFI confirmed theimportance for each RFMO and related countries to act inthe years ahead in line with the Course of Action adopted
at the meeting.
(2) Application of the ecosystem-based approach tofisheries
Regarding the management of deep-sea fisheries, Japanproposed, and FAO COFI agreed, to develop technicalguidelines for the management of deep-sea fisheries,
including the identification of vulnerable marine ecosystems
and the assessment of impacts by fisheries pursuant to the2006 U.N. Resolution on Fisheries.
(3) Measures against IUU fishing activities
FAO COFI confirmed that it will continue to focus on
measures against illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU)
fishing activities in the future. Further, COFI members
supported that FAO should take the initiative of launching
the work to develop a new treaty regarding the measureson Port States. Members also supported that FAO should
initiate discussions on the possibility of developing a global
list of fishing vessels.
(4) Review of the progress of the Code of Conduct for
Responsible Fisheries and international plans of action
FAO COFI confirmed the need to promote theimplementation of the Code of Conduct for Responsible

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ISARIBI NO.54
Fisheries and four International Plans of Action (i.e.
capacity, IUU, shark and seabirds). Regarding themanagement of fishing capacity, notably, the committee
recognized the need to reinforce its effort. Further, it was
proposed that guidelines be developed for the promotionof the International Plan of Action on Seabirds, and it wasagreed that FAO should cope with this issue incollaboration with related organizations.
At the meeting, the International Coalition of Fisheries
Association (ICFA), representing the world’s fishers, calledon FAO to further promote sustainable fisheries. ICFA’s
comments on important agenda items are set forth below.
Combating IUU Fishing.
• The International Coalition of Fisheries
Associations (ICFA) represents fishing
operators that are legal, that are regulated andthat report their catches.
• IUU fishing undermines our businesses.
• ICFA takes the view that those who fish underflags of non-compliance operate atconsiderable cost advantage and have no
obligations to be responsible fishers.
• Our members seek a “level playing field,” thatis, we need governments to take firm action toensure that non-compliant states and theirfishers eliminate flags of convenience and IUUfishing.
• Measures to combat IUU fishing should resultin economic DISINCENTIVES for those who
fish illegally.
• ICFA supports COFI efforts to stop IUU fishingand to protect vulnerable marine ecosystems.
• ICFA also supports FAO’s work to elaborate
the Model Scheme on Port State Measures.
• As the commercial sector with human andfinancial capital at risk, ICFA commits itself toremain involved as a stakeholder in thisprocess.
Strengthening RFMOs and Their Performance.
• ICFA supports the implementation of steps thatwill result in measurement of the performanceof RFMOs against a common standard.
• ICFA urges FAO to facilitate the process
initiated to amend the Indian Ocean Tuna
Commission (IOTC) Agreement, following theconsensus reached by all IOTC members
during the Third Special Session of the IOTC
17-19 May 2006, in Goa, India.
• The intent of this work is to make the IOTC afully open and independent RFMO that could
both strengthen the management of tuna
resources by incorporating all participants in
the Indian Ocean fishery into the IOTC andthat could improve the performance of the
IOTC in managing tuna stocks of the Indian
Ocean in a sustainable manner.

APRIL 2007

Whaling
Letter of Protest
concerning Sea Shepherd’s
terroristic actions against
Japan’s whale research
On 28 February, 2007, Dr. Hiroshi Hatanaka, DirectorGeneral, the Institute of Cetacean Research, and Mr. Kazuo
Yamamura, President, Kyodo Senpaku Kaisha, Ltd., jointly
issued a letter of protest to the Sea Shepherd Conservation
Society, condemning its unjustified and dangerous terrorist
activities against Japan’s whale research fleet in the
Antarctic early this year. What follow is the full text of theletter.

F

ollowing last year’s harassment, from 8 to 14 February
2007 Sea Shepherd perpetrated criminal obstructive
actions against Japan’s whale research vessels
operating in the Antarctic. Japan’s whale research is carriedout making use of Kyodo Senpaku Kaisha Ltd. vessels by
the Institute of Cetacean Research under a special permit
issued by the government of Japan pursuant to theInternational Convention for the Regulation of Whaling.
Accordingly, Japan’s whale research in the Antarctic isperfectly legal.
This year, Sea Shepherd resorted to throwing a large
number of smoke bombs and bottles containing a harmful
chemical substance on the decks of the mother ship Nisshin
Maru and the non-lethal research dedicated sighting vessel
Kaiko Maru, resulting in two injured crewmen. Sea Shepherd
malicious attempts against the research vessels also included
releasing ropes and nets to entangle their screw. Furthermore,
the two Sea Shepherd vessels came to either side of thenonresistant Kaiko Maru stopping her from continuing sailingand rammed her three times, causing big damage to her hull.
Such vicious and reckless actions by Sea Shepherd not
only violate the international agreements established in orderto prohibit piracy and to guarantee the safety of navigation.
They are inexcusable criminal acts that go against thepractices of good seamanship. What is more, they are spitefuland mindless terrorism perpetrated in disregard of humanlife.
We condemn these actions by Sea Shepherd in thestrongest possible terms. We strongly request that this kindof terrorist behavior which endangers human life is notrepeated in future. Last year, the International Whaling
Commission adopted by consensus a resolution declaringthat the Commission and its contracting Governments do
not condone any such wrongful actions that are a risk tohuman life and property in relation to whale research activities
of vessels at sea. We also appeal strongly to the international
community to refrain from providing support in any form,
including their granting of ship nationality, to such terrorist
organization.

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