ISARIBI NO.68

ISSN1346-2512

Japan
Fisheries
Association

NO.68, DEC. 2010
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

Effects of full use of ﬁsh

Full utilization of ﬁsh is essential to achieve zero emission
Mr. Yoshinori Ito, Tuna Advanced Functional Food
Co., Ltd. in Shimizu, Shizuoka, Japan, has recently
contributed his study on the utilization of fish wastematerials to the symposium on the "effective utilizationof ﬁsheries resources." What follows is an abstract of his
paper.

T

oday, the sustainable and effective utilization offisheries resources are essential, and realizationis required worldwide. For this purpose, it is very
important to manage strict control of ﬁsh biomass andperform 100% usage of ﬁsh resources more effectively
to add further value. Furthermore, the publicity works
to enlighten the people of these activities' necessary
importance. Numerous results of contents and functional
effects of fish products by so many scientific studies
and investigations shows clearly that utilization of fish
resource shall contribute to humanity to maintain healthand happiness. It is not only delicious but also useful toraise the Quality of Life (QOL).
In Japan, there are many accumulations of the fruits ofstudies as the word "Functional Food' was born in Japan
indicates.(Note 1) However further developing of thesestudies are needed in time, especially this century, themany ﬁsh resources are running short causing increaseof many species in danger of extinction. The utilizationof guts, bones and skins, ordinarily considered waste,converted to high-tech functional foods, signify that
we can use these natural resources more effectively,
resulting in more valuable product, with less amount ofstock.
Those who successfully develop this business willsurvive this century of environment; otherwise, theﬁshery industry itself shall be disappeared.
Currently the following functional components are wellknown as the products from these ﬁsh wastes.
DHA combined phospholipids (from skin and meal ofsquid)
Anti-inflammatory peptideglycan (from ink sac ofsquids)DNA (from salmon testis)
Chondroitin Sulfate (from salmon head, shark cartilage)
Type ‡U collagen (from salmon head)
Placenta like components (from salmon ovarian

membrane)
Chitin, Chitosan
a n d N A c e t y l
glucosamine (fromshrimp and crab
shell)
Anserine (fromskipjack wastes)
Elastin (from heartof skipjack and tuna)
Collagen (from ﬁshscale and skin)Proteoglycan (fromsalmon head)
Glycogen (from oyster, shellﬁsh)
Seasoning (from ﬁsh wastes)
The tuna occupies the summit of the food chain in theocean. It signifies she is the top of bioconcentration andbiomagnifications. Therefore, she is concentrating every
functional component of the fishes and planktons in theocean, otherwise very hard to understand her longevity
and stamina for swim so long distance and high speed, alsohigh coefﬁcient number to increase her weight - to increase
1kg of body weight she needs about 20kgs of food. Thus,
I studied the contents in their waste parts and discovered
incredibly high concentration of functional components
by newly developed extraction method2?and was able toconserve natural contents of tuna with no loss and madeproducts as functional foods.
1. Tuna Oil
I had extracted tuna oil from tuna head by Hybrid
Extraction Method, which I invented, in closed circuit under
low temperature. At first decompressing then pressurizing
and heating in a container without contacting the air until
finishing the extraction process. These tuna oil were very
stable for the oxidation, in spite of the abundance of omega
3 fatty acid such as DHA, EPA due to the high content ofVitamin E.
When we realized a double blind placebo control trial
for 34 persons during three months, we found just intake
of 1.8g/day of this tuna oil lowered blood pressure bothin the systolic and diastolic, triglyceride and cholesterol.

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

ISARIBI NO.68

DEC. 2010

Furthermore this intake of tuna oil increased the blood
adiponectin and decreased leptin. In 5 person who didn't
show significant blood pressure change, the increaseof adiponectin, decrease of leptin, triglyceride and totalcholesterol was observed. For all of 17 persons who took
tuna oil, it had a favorable effect.
The studies of adiponectin and leptin are important
hormones, which control metabolic syndrome, is a hot
topic as a most advanced science. However, no report was
found to inﬂuence both these hormones effectively.
2. Other components
The elastin liquid extracted from tuna bulbous arteriosus
is an essential component for the cosmetics, which mostof the big name cosmetic companies in Japan are using.
When extracted by this hybrid method, the upper parts
are concentrated by oil. Lower liquid parts are very richwith soluble collagen and many useful components suchas hyaluronic acid, chondroitin surfate, taurine, vitamin
B group, folic acid, zinc, copper and other minerals. The
bottom parts are solid parts; we obtain bone, useful asa source of collagen and hydroxyapatite, also paste type
phosphatidylcholine, and myoglobin rich matter.
These components are very rich and contain within therange of the value that Ministry of Health, Labour andWelfare admit to classify and mention "High Contents".
Each part of tuna contains different components to be
used for the different purpose. This indicates there is more
ample market.
We conﬁrmed by human open trial that intake of thepowder of tuna guts mixed with green tea powder reduced
the uric acid. Powder extracted from tuna roe also contains
very rich functional components.
If we success to reduce odor and color completely we'll
use 100% of ﬁsh waste effectively.
To achieve Zero Emission (zero waste) we have toutilize uppermost of wastes. As the results we contributeto reduce the load for the environments. If we can ﬁnd
many functional components with this process, then we
may utilize it for the improvement of human health, as it
becomes a time demanding industry.
Reference:
1) Morihiko Sakaguchi, Takashi Hirata, Zero Emission ofFisheries Resources. NTS, 2005
2) Yoshinori Ito. Hybrid Extraction method; Innovative
Method to Produce Non Oxidative Tuna Oil:
http://precedings.nature.com/documents/3110/version/1

ICFA
Solidarity among ﬁshing organizations in
the world pushed ahead
at ICFA meetingT

he annual meeting of the International Coalition ofFisheries Associations (ICFA) was held in Rome Sept.
27-29 to discuss various international issues suchas COP10 of the Convention on Biological Diversity, thefisheries certification scheme (marine eco-labeling) andstock management in tuna fisheries. As in last year, an
informal exchange of views was conducted with the United

Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
Regarding the marine eco-labeling issue, Japan explained
the present state of its MEL (Marine Eco-label) Japan
scheme. It said that the MEL Secretariat has certiﬁed fourﬁsheries to date, and would further start examination ofpole-and-line skipjack fishery shortly, thus showing thatthe certification is receiving steady reactions for further
expansion in the days ahead. Japan elaborated that, inapplying to MEL Japan certification, Japanese fishermen,
distributors and retailers are not aiming to defend
themselves from possible consumer boycott, but rather
have positive approach to convey to consumers theirserious approach and effort toward stock management andthey are committed to promote this campaign in the years
to come. This presentation by Japan gained understandingof ICFA participants at the meeting.
With respect to the tuna issue, Japan introduced theresolution to promote the control of tuna excessive
capacity adopted by the Organization for the Promotion of
Responsible Tuna Fisheries (OPRT) (See OPRT homepage,
http://www.oprt.or.jp/), and called for restraint of tunaﬁshing capacity around the world.
Notably, Japan touched on the present increase of ﬁshingcapacity by tuna purse-seine fishing vessels, and called
on ICFA members for the need to develop and implement
global measures as soon as possible to restrain fishingcapacity, or at least to freeze the number of tuna ﬁshingvessels and their capacity. At the same time, Japan
addressed the issue of promoting the right of developing
countries to develop their own tuna ﬁshing.
(ICFA was established in 1988 as a non-governmentalorganization consisting of ﬁsheries associations of several
countries. It now has, as its members, associations frommajor fishing countries in the world. ICFA upholds theconcept that the oceans constitute an important foodsource for mankind and is committed to conserve theoceans and maintain appropriate ﬁshing activities.)

MEL Japan News
Offshore and Pelagic Pole and Line
Skipjack Fisheries certiﬁed as sustainably
managed ﬁshery by MEL JapanT

he National Offshore Tuna Fisheries Associationof Japan obtained Marine Eco-label Japan (MEL)
certification in the production stage for Offshore
Pole and Line Skipjack Fishery December 13. The Japan
Tuna Fisheries Cooperative Association also obtained MEL
certiﬁcation in the production stage for Pelagic Pole andLine Skipjack Fishery on the same day. Ten processors
obtained Chain of Custody (COC) certification for thisﬁshery, which enables distribution of labeled products.
With these certiﬁcations, the majority of the JapanesePole and Line Skipjack Fisheries have been certified by
MEL Japan.
Most of the skipjack produced by the above certiﬁed
fisheries will be distributed as sashimi (raw) and tataki

Page 2

ISARIBI NO.68(lightly seared outside).
The certiﬁcation is a signiﬁcant step toward expansionof distribution of the products in retail stores for
consumers, particularly in view of the volume of the ﬁsh
produced by the newly certified fisheries. The set-net
ﬁshery in Minamikayabe region is also been assessed andexpected to be certiﬁed in 2011.
The MEL Secretariat said the number of ﬁsheries so
far certiﬁed under its scheme totaled six.

CBD COP10
Toward the goal to ensure biologicaldiversity in the future--Solution of the overﬁshing issue envisionedby 2020--T

he 10th conference of Parties (COP10) of theConvention on Biological Diversity (CBD) was heldin Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan on November
18-29.
It closed its 12-day session on November 29 byadopting the Nagoya Protocol regarding the accessand beneﬁt sharing on genetic resources as well as the
Aichi-Nagoya Strategic Plan which provided goals (Aichi
Target) concerning the conservation of biodiversity
by 2020. The conference was attended by more than
13,000 representatives from 179 Contracting Parties,
international organizations and non-governmentalorganizations (NGOs).
The Strategic Plan put forth its mission with the target
year set for 2020. The Plan explicitly stated that it will"take effective and urgent action to halt the loss of
biodiversity in order to ensure that by 2020 ecosystems
are resilient and continue to provide essential
services, thereby securing the planet's variety of life,and contributing to human well-being, and poverty
eradication."
Speciﬁcally, the Plan provided for 20 targets. Regarding
the issue of overﬁshing, it noted in Target 6: "By 2020
all fish and invertebrate stocks and aquatic plants aremanaged and harvested sustainably, legally and applying
ecosystem based approaches, so that overfishing is
avoided, recovery plans and measures are in place
for all depleted species, fisheries have no significant
adverse impacts on threatened species and vulnerable

DEC. 2010
ecosystems and the impacts of ﬁsheries on stocks, species
and ecosystems are within safe ecological limits."
Regarding Ecologically or Biologically Significant Areas(EBSA), it was agreed that a series of regional workshops
will be held through cooperation of Contracting Parties andrelated organizations such as the U.N. Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO), on the condition of fund availability,
to promote understanding on the application of criteria
for EBSA establishment, and request the CBD Secretariat
to accumulate scientific and technical information andinstances obtained in those workshops.
With respect to marine living resources, it was decided toencourage Contracting Parties to take appropriate measures
to utilize them sustainably, with due heed to biologicaldiversity.
As for Target 11 that envisions setting the proportionof the marine protected area at X%, advanced countries
asserted that this X should be 15%, while China and Africa
supported 5-6%, and most of other countries, including
Norway and Iceland, backed 10%. In the latter part ofthe discussion, Costa Rica strongly insisted on 20%. The
values of 6, 10 and 20 remained as ﬁnal options, and theWorking Group Chair proposed "17% for land and 10% for
the ocean," which became the compromise of the Working
Group.
However, the marine protected area does not imply totalprohibition of ﬁshing. It could be interpreted that 10% is
the combination the areas in which conservation measures
are implemented and the protected area. The value was
explicit, while it left room for various interpretations.
Meanhile, during the session, the Marine Eco-label (MEL)
Japan made appeal for sustainable use of marine products
and conservation of the marine environment in a booth set
up in a room adjacent to the conference hall.

Tuna stock management
ICCAT recovered ability to conserve andmanage Atlantic Blueﬁn tuna

T

he International Commission for the Conservationof Atlantic Tunas ( ICCAT) held its annual meetingfrom 17th to 27th of November 2010 in Paris. The
meeting was attended by over 500 delegates from 35
contracting parties as well as inter-governmental and nongovernmental organizations. A signiﬁcant portion of thework of the meeting dealt with Atlantic blueﬁn tuna, which
has been affected by overﬁshing in recent years, especiallyin the Mediterranean Sea.
New improved measures for monitoring, surveillanceand control were adopted to ensure compliance by
the parties with ICCAT management measures. Japan
played an important role in introducing measures forstrengthening compliance with management regulations.
Given the improved monitoring, surveillance andcontrol measures, and the result of the ICCAT scientificcommittee, TAC for 2011 was set at 12,900 t for EasternBlueﬁn tuna, about 4 % lower than TAC for 2010. For theWestern Blueﬁn tuna stock, the TAC for 2011 was set at
1,750t., slight reduction from the 2010 TAC (1,800 t). A
Japanese ofﬁcial commented on the result of the annual
meeting, “ Chance of rebuilding the Atlantic Blueﬁn tuna
was highly ensured. “Page 3

ISARIBI NO.68

TopicsWorld seafood supply in 2005-2007
rose to record high of 110 million tons
reﬂecting strong demand: FAOT

he average annual supply of seafood, excluding
marine mammals and aquatic plants (such as
seaweed), in 2005-2007 rose to yet another all-timehigh of 11,078,734 tons, surpassing by 5.7% the previous
record registered in 2003-2005, the United Nations Foodand Agriculture Organization (FAO) said recently.
As the world population in that period stood at 6,591.15
million, up 2.4% from the previous three-year period,
per-capita supply surged 3.3% to 16.8 kilograms. This
was also a new record and was a slight upward revisionfrom the preliminary ﬁgure of 16.7 kilograms made public
earlier.
The supply of seafood was calculated as total ﬁsheryand aquaculture production minus the amount for nonfood use, and also plus imported seafood and minus
exports of seafood based on FAO's unique conversion
procedure.
The amount of trade was based on round weight. Thechanges in inventory were not considered as only ahandful of nations make inventory statistics public.
FAO said that ﬁshery and aquaculture production turned
up 4.8% to 137,953,425 tons, of which non-food products
accounted for 27,489,947 tons, down 9%.
Imports of fish and shellfish for edible use totaled
36,622,139 tons, up 4.0%, while exports expanded
11.3% to 38,565,397 tons.
Of total seafood supply, that for advanced nations edged
up 1.8% to 32,511,393 tons. Per-capita supply came to24.1 kg, up 0.9%, on population of 1,350,876,000, up
0.8%. By contrast, supply in developing countries climbed
7.6% to 78,269,341 tons, with per-capita supply standingat 14.9 kg, up 4.6%, on population of 5,240,664,000, up
2.8%.
By country, China topped the list of supply by a large
margin with 34,094,458 tons, up 4.6%. Per-capita
supply increased 3.3% to 26.3 kg on population of
1,297,812,000, up 1.2%.
Japan came to the second position with 7,472,150 tons,
down 7.5%. Per-capita supply was 58.6 kg on populationof 127,432,000, down 0.3%.
Japan was followed by the United States with 7,393,719
tons, up 2.9% (per-capita supply leveling off at 24.2 kg
on population of 305,704,000, up 3.0%)
Among top 10 countries, 8 were Asian countries,
including India and Indonesia, indicating active demand in
this region.
(This article is based on the Nikkan Suisan Tsushin)

T

Research results on eel ecology
made public

h e F i s h e r i e s A g e n c y ( FA J ) a n d t h e F i s h e r i e s
Research Agency (FRA) announced on Sept. 30
the results of the research on the ecology of eel
spawning grounds carried out in the Paciﬁc in the westernarea of Mariana Islands.
The research was conducted by FAJ's two fishery

DEC. 2010
research vessels -- by Shoyo Maru July 5-August 23, and by
Kaiyo Maru July 28-Sept.22. The research vessels caught
five eel juveniles and one adult individual (of 43 cm) in
the area near the spawning ground. The researchers also
observed eel's swimming patterns.

Kindai ties up with a trading ﬁrm
for blueﬁn tuna farmingKinki University (Kindai) has recently entered into
a technological tie-up with Toyota Tsusho Corp., amajor trading firm based in Nagoya, for full-scale
blueﬁn tuna farming.
Toyota Tsusho has invested Y30 million to establish Tuna
Dream Gotoh Co., a company to raise tuna seeds for fullscale farming, in Gotoh, Nagasaki Prefecture, westernJapan. The new ﬁrm will build at-sea cages on Fukue Island
in Gotoh for raising tunas in the intermediate stage.
Kindai will provide artiﬁcially hatched blueﬁn tuna seeds
and seed stocking knowhow, and Tuna Dream will raise theseeds to the size of harvestable natural juveniles.

Whale research in Japan's coastal area ﬁnds
whales are feeding mainly on pollock

T

he Fisheries Agency announced on October 8 theresults of the coastal whale research catch programfor 2010 in the area off Kushiro, eastern Hokkaido,
which was completed on October 6. The research was
conducted by the Regional Whaling Promotion Association ina radius of 50 miles off Kushiro Port in September 7-October
6.
A total of 60 minke whales were sampled -- 41 males withthe average body size of 5.8m, and 19 females of 5.4 m. As
a result of analysis of the stomach contents of the caught
individuals, most whales were found to be feeding mainly on
pollock.

Editorial

Will the international society succumb toviolence again?

T

he time has come again for Japan to carry out
its Antarctic research whaling program. Japan iscommitted to implement the scientific research-- a legitimate right explicitly recognized under theInternational Convention for the Regulation of Whaling -for the purpose of ensuring the principle of sustainableutilization of marine living resources, the concept shared
broadly by the international society.
To date, the international society has been blaming
this extremist violence to harass the research but has
not been able to take any action to block it. It has notresorted to the means to obstruct it, such as prohibitionof the use of port facilities by the harassing vessels andban of refueling, although such means were fully inplace.
Will the international society tolerate their violent
activities this year again? Isaribi would like to question
the countries that virtually allow occurrence of such
violence by the radical protest group -- whether theygive support to their violence and cause the internationalsociety to continue to ensure the humiliation to cave into such frenzy.

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