Japan’s fish consumption is declining, species like tuna are disappearing, fishing activity is going down and young people aren’t keen to enter the fishing industry.
Some say that seafood sustainability could be the answer to this, but because of Japan’s culture (societal harmony is valued and the country can be risk averse) sustainability movements don’t appear to be gaining much momentum.
However, efforts are underway. Japan was a key topic at this year’s SeaWeb Seafood Summit where panellists agreed that changes are happening. NGOs’ activities are expanding, while on 30 March 2016 an oyster farm on Japan’s eastern coast became the country’s first to obtain Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) certification. The retailer Aeon has begun selling the first Chilean coho certified by the ASC, and is working to raise its share of certified seafood sales by 10% by 2020.
There are also increasing calls for the government to regulate fishing more firmly and take a more prominent role to ensure sustainability. One consultancy group, Seafood Legacy, is seeking insight from various perspectives on improving sustainability and organising open symposiums on the issue. All eyes are now on whether seafood sustainability will improve in time for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.
