(2) Trends in Japan’s fish and fishery products imports and exports (Trends in Japan’s fish and fishery products imports)

Japan’s fish and fishery products import volume has generally been on a decline with a drop in domestic consumption after marking a record high (3.82 million tons) in 2001. The fish and fishery products import value in 2013 decreased by 9% from the previous year, falling below 2.5 million tons for the first time since 1989, due to such factors as the recent trend of the exchange market, a rise in prices in overseas markets, and a decrease in the production volume of shrimps and prawns due to diseases, etc. Meanwhile, the import value was 1.6 trillion yen, increasing by 5% over the previous year.

The import volume decreased for fish and fishery products including salmons and trouts, shrimps and prawns, bonitos and tunas and crabs, whereas the import volume increased for mackerel and squids.

[Changes in Japan’s fishery product import volume and value]

## (Trends in Japan’s fishery product exports)

O Japan’s fishery product exports in 2013 expanded on the back of the recent exchange market trend. The export volume increased by 25% over the previous year at 550,000 tons, recovering to a level near the export volume in 2010 (570,000 tons) which was before the Great East Japan Earthquake. The export value stood at 221.6 billion yen, increasing by 30% over the previous year. The export expanded for scallops, mackerel, sardine, and salmons and trouts.

O The largest export destination is China, but exports to Egypt (mackerel) and Vietnam (mackerel, scallops, etc.) have also been increasing. However, exports to South Korea have been sluggish due to the tightening of the import restriction measure announced in September 2013.

O Japanese cuisine has spread throughout the world and is ranked high as “favorite foreign cuisine” in a survey conducted in seven major countries and regions in Asia, Europe and the United States.

O The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries published the export strategy for agricultural, forestry, fishery and food products by country and by item, aiming to increase the fishery product export value to 350 billion yen by 2020. The national government supports exports of Japanese fishery products by promoting acquisition of HACCP certification and improving technology for retaining the quality of fishery products, as well as branding Japanese fishery products and creating slogans and logo marks for advertising their high quality.

O In order to turn the fishing industry into a growth industry, it is vital to advance into the global market which is significantly larger in size than the domestic market. Indispensable factors for expanding fishery product exports are approaching consumers in export destination countries, researching the market size of the export destination through marketing in advance, complying with the hygiene control standards of the destination country, and stably supplying products that meet the volume, quality and price sought by traders.

[Changes in Japan’s fishery product export volume and value]

Source: Ministry of Finance, Trade Statistics

[Slogans and logo marks for promoting export of Japan's fishery products]

Excellent Seafood JAPAN