ISARIBI NO.50

ISSN1346-2512

JapanFisheries
AssociationNO.50 March 2006
Sankaido Bldg.,
9-13 Akasaka 1, Minato-ku,
Tokyo, Japan 107-0052
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Views and Opinions of Japan’s Fisheries Industry

JFA Winter Evening Reception

Promotion of Exports of High-quality JapaneseMarine Products Encouraged
The Japan Fisheries Association (JFA) hosted the Winter Evening Reception inviting fisheries andcommercial attaches from Embassies and Consulates in Tokyo on February 20, 2006.

T

he guest speaker, Ms. Mari Izumi, Director,
Export Promotion Office, Ministry ofAgriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, presented
Japan’s policy to promote the exportation of food
through what is called the “Positive Agriculture Policy.”
Following is a summary of her presentation.
Exports of agricultural, forestry and fish products
from Japan in 2005 totaled 331 billion Yen.The foodexport value was 5% of the value of food imports toJapan, although it had increased by 12% over thepreceding year. Forty-four percent of the food export
value came from fish and fish products. Main importers
were the USA, Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, and Korea.
Although Japan’s exports of food are still small
compared with her imports, there are reasons to believethat the Japanese industry still has a chance to increase
its exports. Japanese cuisine is popular around theworld. Although it is relatively expensive, it is high inquality (taste, nutrition,s a f e t ya n dappearance). On top of
that, the markets inEast and South-East
Asia are growing andthe market for fish isalso growing.
Ms. Izumi further
noted that, under suchcircumstances, thegovernment of Japan
has started to promote
exports of food with thetarget of doubling the The Japanese writing in theexport amount in 5 years above logo says “Delicious.”(2004-2009). Suchpromotion of exports, she said, is based on the“Positive” agricultural policy that the government has
adopted as its national strategy. In accordance withthis policy, the government has programs to support
businesses to get into foreign markets by supplying
useful information to the industry and hosting food fairs
and temporary workshops to promote exports ofJapanese food.
The government is also making necessary
adjustments internally to cope with the requirementsof importers by examining and adjusting to tariffs andquarantines of importing countries. The program also
includes the protection of product brands andintellectual property rights and the adjustment ofdomestic production and distribution to export

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

ISARIBI NO.50

MAR. 2006

businesses. The next step is to increase the number ofexporters with a challenging spirit, support exportoriented sectors/businesses and cooperate with thepromotion of Japanese food culture abroad, Ms. Izumi
said.
Regarding the importance of activating Japan’s
exports of fishery products, JFA President Isao Nakasu

stated in an earlier interview: “the Japanese fish market
is now being saturated, despite our efforts to deter thedeclining demand in the domestic market, while
imported fish is rapidly increasing in recent years. It
would be a practical challenge for the Japanese industry
to strive to develop overseas markets, such as China,
where demand for high-quality fish is growing.”

SYMPOSIUM

Experts Warn Against Abuse and Misuse ofPrecautionary Principle in Fisheries ManagementT

he Japanese Foreign Ministry and theAssociation for Comparative Study ofLegal Culture sponsored a symposium in Tokyo
on February 16 under the name: “Recent Trend of theManagement of Marine Living Resources: Sustainable
Use and Application of the Precautionary Approach.”
Two foreign guest speakers delivered presentations.
Under the title of “Sustainable Use and theConservation of Natural Resources,” Dr. Jonathan
Hutton, Chair, Sustainable Use Specialist Group,Species Survival Commission, The World Conservation
Union (IUCN), stated that sustainable use is aimed at
the conservation of fish species, and allowing the useof the resources within the capacity of their renewablecapability by properly managing them. There are somearguments that wildlife is put to risk because of theconcept of sustainable use or because the industries
take advantage of sustainable use as a cover for theiractivities. The proponents of such criticism apparently
assume that the objective of sustainable use isconsumption. However, this argument is not
appropriate because the aim of the concept ofsustainable use is the conservation of fish species.
Next, Dr. Rosie Cooney, Coordinator, Precautionary
Principle Project, a joint initiative of Fauna & FloraInternational (FFI) IUCN, TRAFFIC International andResource Africa, spoke under the title of “Riding thewave: precaution from principle to practice in marineregulation.” She pointed out that the precautionary
principle requires measures against uncertainties. As
the ecosystem has unpredictable uncertainties, theprecautionary principle has been introduced into theConvention on Biological Diversity and national laws
on natural resources and the environment. However,there is no common understanding on the principle,
and diverse issues tend to arise when putting it intopractice. In 1996, for example, Australia obliged the(From right to leftt) Dr.Hutton, Dr.Cooney, Prof.Hiroyuki
Matsuda, Dr.Yoshio Kaneko

use of the precautionary principle in its Fisheries Law,but failed in its application as the number of overharvested species increased to 17 from 4 before thatrequirement was introduced. The failure was blamedon such factors as the difficulty in implementing therequirement, opposition from the fishing industry, anda lack of consensus in the interpretation of the principle.
It is important to understand that there exist diverse
risks in implementing the precautionary principle, Dr.
Cooney said.

Page 2Announcement
The Japan Fisheries Association will hostthe 8th International Seafood & Technology
Expo at the Tokyo International Center (BigSight), July 19-21, 2006.
(For further information, contact Seafood
Expo Secretariat at http://www.k-ide.com/seafood)ISARIBI NO.50

MAR. 2006

MARKET TREND

Increase in Eating-out
by Single-Person Households
Causing Intense Fish Price CompetitionT

he lifestyle of Japanese consumers has been
diversifying from year to year. Amid thischange, single-person households haveemerged as a new social stratum. Supermarkets,convenience stores and the restaurant industry aretaking steps to cope with this phenomenon.
Eating-out has increased conspicuously because
single-person households do not proportionately savemuch by cooking at home. While the increase in eatingout was triggered by the increase in single-personhouseholds, it has also spread among two-person or
two-generation households as the restaurant industry
itself has developed markedly.
Also large retailers, such as supermarket andconvenience store chains, are stepping up sales ofready-to-eat fish products targeting single-person andother households.
As a result, these large-lot buyers of fish have cometo take the initiative in the marketing of marine products

in Japan. They have reduced their sales costs bymechanizing cooking and preparation processes andare pressing producers for price reductions against
the backdrop of their powerful purchasing capabilities.
At present, intense competition for this new market iscausing fish prices to continue to fall annually.
The fisheries industry is feeling threatened by thisdevelopment. Some industry analysts term this trend
as a “deflationary spiral.” It is apparently caused by
the fact that large-lot buyers, such as supermarkets
and convenience store chains and the restaurantindustry, which have taken the lead in the market, do
not have sales know-how for fishery products and aretrying to compete only through price dumping.
The concern of the fisheries industry is that they
face the risk of broad confusion in the market unlessthey develop a demand for higher-quality and highvalue-added products.

SCIENCE

Research Team Found
Taste Is Encoded in Brain’s
Prefrontal Area

A

joint research team of the National Food
Research Institute and Nippon Suisan, aleading Japanese fishery firm, announced on
March 2, 2006, that they have discovered the prefrontal
area of man’s brain is activated in encoding the senseof taste. Prefrontal activity had been known forencoding information obtained by other senses such as
visual, auditory and tactile senses but the effect of its
activity was found for the first time in relation to taste.
The result of the research was introduced in the online
version of the U.S. scientific journal “NeuroImage”
dated February 10, 2006.
In an experiment conducted by the team, eight kindsof solutions that have sweet, sour, salty, and glutamate(umami) tastes were prepared as samples to stimulate
the sense of taste. Ten right-handed adults, whovolunteered to participate in the experiment, tasted twoout of the eight types of solutions on a continuous basis
and were asked to tell whether the two solutions are
the same or different.
It often happens that we do not recognize the tasteof food clearly when we eat while engaging in otheractivities. The result of the experiment suggests that
one of the causes of this phenomenon is that theprefrontal brain area is used in common both by thesense of taste and other senses, and necessary
resources for the brain’s information processing
functions compete among them.
Also, it has been shown by other research in recent
years that it is difficult to control the amount of food
one consumes while watching television.
The team’s research suggests that eating while
doing other things can lead to over-eating because suchan action deteriorates the brain’s information
processing efficiency for taste and causes one to beless aware of the delicate change of taste, which occurs
when one feels fullness.
The team said the results of its research wouldPage 3

ISARIBI NO.50
provide useful knowledge for improving our eating
habits and preventing obesity.

Searching FishUsing Satellites
A Special Exhibition in TokyoA

special exhibition was held in the “Consumers’Room” of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry
and Fisheries in Tokyo, December 19-22,
2005, under the theme of “Searching Fish by Artificial
Satellites.”
The exhibition was designed to explain, using panels
and video films, how artificial satellites are being used
to obtain all kinds of data on sea conditions, which areMAR. 2006
provided to fishers by the Japan Fisheries Information
Service Center.
A total of 1,074 people visited during the exhibition
period.
One exhibit that attracted the attention of the visitors
was under the slogan: “Artificial satellites challenge highfuel costs. They protect and foster Japan’s fisheries.”
The system is designed to determine the locations offishing grounds via satellites and enable an analysis of
the stock status of a certain fish species.
An elementary school pupil, who visited the exhibition,
said: “It was a surprise to know such new technology
is being used for fisheries. If technology on satellites
for fisheries advances as it has for military use, it will
surely make it easier for fishermen to catch fish.”

SEAFOOD EXPO

More regional fisheries organizations andfisheries cooperative associations take partin the 3rd Osaka Seafood Show
—The number of visitors increases by 600
over the previous show—T

he Japan Fisheries Association (JFA)sponsored the 3rd Japan International Seafood& Technology Expo Osaka at Intex Osaka on
February 16 and 17. This show seems to have takenroot as a major winter event dealing with marine
products in this western commercial city. The Expowas a success with a total of 8,807 people visiting thesite during the two-day period—more than 600 overlast year’s 8164.
Speaking on behalf of the organizer at the opening
ceremony in the morning of February 16, Isao Nakasu,President of the JFA, said: “At this year’s Expo about
150 companies and organizations are participating asexhibitors. The scale of the exhibition is more or lessthe same as the previous show, but the present show
is featured by increased participation by regional
fisheries organizations and fisheries cooperativeassociations.”
He also noted: “Among exhibits, we can see tasty
marine products having regional characteristics.
Furthermore, many fishery product suppliers in theKansai Region centering on Osaka are participating.”“Although Japan leads the world in the consumptionof fishery products in terms of both quality and quantity,
suppliers seem to be taking this situation for granted

Tape-cutting ceremony at the Expoand tend to neglect further efforts to step up marketing.
As a result, they are not able to respond properly todiversifying demand from consumers. Consumers now
have a large variety of food to choose from. We needto reinforce our efforts on how we can better appeal
the excellent quality of our products to consumers andboost sales. Events such as this show will certainly
provide a good opportunity to pursue that goal. It is myhope that exhibitors will use this show as an occasion
to test their capability to improve their sales,” Nakasu
said.

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