The political significance of Japanese fishers is indicated by the Japan Fisheries Agency’s response to mass demonstrations at soaring fuel costs in July 2008; it provided a new US$703 million subsidy to the sector. Fisher’s associations were compensated for 90 percent of the costs of fuel rises and those fishers that were so badly hit by fuel price rises that they had to halt or reduce their operations, were able to access expanded interest free loans and financial assistance. The fund for these measures expired in March 2009 with the end of the 2008/09 financial year.
The impact of the end to this subsidy may be exacerbated by a subsequent 2.5 percent cut in the Fisheries Agency’s budget for 2009/10. But US$150 million of this budget is provided for energy conservation (e.g. to support fuel efficiency increases) and reform to the industry structure, so fishers may still receive substantial (new) subsidies.
On the declining trend in Japanese seafood consumption, a government white paper expressed concern that this trend needs to be stopped otherwise Japanese fishers and seafood processors could be negatively impacted.
In addition, the government is trying to improve Japan’s food self-sufficiency rate: only 40 percent of Japanese calorific consumption comes from domestic food, a significant drop from 73 percent in 1965, and one of the lowest rates in the OECD countries. The target is to increase the self-sufficiency rate to 45 percent by 2015. While consumption of domestically produced rice and vegetables are seen as key to meet this target, consumption of domestically-caught fish is a component of government plans.
This may provide an additional economic spur to Japanese fishers, although there has been a recent recession-induced shift in Japanese consumption to lower priced fish and fish products. This includes a reported trend away from fresh to frozen and processed fish. One analyst argues that, while the rise in purchases of ‘budget’ seafood has stimulated general levels of consumption, the industry and its existing distribution networks may not be well placed to offer discounts for long periods. For example, there is high price pressure on bigeye tuna, which consumers will reportedly not buy unless it is priced at ¥198 (US$2.01) per 100 grams or less.
Turning to tuna-specific fisheries, Japan’s Fisheries Agency committed to retiring around 12 percent of Japanese tuna longliners by the end of March. In other words, of its total fleet of 739 tuna longliners, 64 deep-sea boats and 23 used for coastal fishing will be decommissioned. The reported rationale for this move is a reaction to the toughening of restrictions on tuna catches, particularly cuts to Japan’s bluefin quota at the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT). The inevitable rise in unemployment of Japanese tuna fishers is being met by a government scheme to shift their employment as sailors for domestic shipping firms, where the general ageing of crew offers opportunities for new entrants.
The Chairman of the Japan Skipjack and Tuna Fisheries Cooperatives has defended the current collective fleet size of his members at 200 boats; arguing that ‘we are determined to not lose any more. If the number of boats goes below 200, it will mean an accelerated decline’. He went on to maintain that this fleet size is optimal to access foreign fishing grounds (i.e. through the sharing of costs) and any decline would negatively impact affiliated industries in Japan such as boat yards and processors.
On a more positive note from the perspective of Japanese industry, the Japan Far Seas Purse Seine Fishing Association estimates that the value of its catch for 2008 was 17 percent higher than compared to 2007. The Chairman of the Association raised concerns that: ‘If disorderly fishing operations continue to increase, overexploitation of the resources will be inevitable, ending in a very dangerous result’.
As an indication of profitability in Japan’s purse seine fleet, the seafood multinational Kyokuyo announced that it has invested in a new ‘integrated’ vessel with a capacity of 1,200mt, which will increase this firm’s purse seine fleet to four vessels. In an attempt to mitigate the troubles facing Japan’s longline industry, the Japanese Fisheries Research Agency has undertaken test sales of sashimi swordfish as an alternative to tuna. The results of these experimental sales are not known.
Another emerging opportunity for the Japanese industry, and by extension Japan’s fishing fleets, is export markets. For decades industry has focussed primarily on the high-value domestic market, but data released by the Japan Fish Traders Association record a 100 percent increase in exports in March compared to the same month in 2008. Now the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries is pushing for improved access to the US market to accelerate the boom in exports, including farmed yellowtail (a good species for farming). A push here is to increase the number of HACCP-certified factories in Japan (HACCP plans are a core component of the US seafood import regime).
