Japanese Agriculture Ministry is considering to perform drastic revisions to its fisheries resources control efforts as well as regulatory reform to boost the aquaculture industry. These plans were devised due to the drastic fish catch drop recorded in 2017, for the fourth consecutive year, informed the newspaper Asahi Shimbun. According to a government survey released by the agriculture Ministry in April, Japan’s fish hauls totalled a record low of 4.30 million tons last year, representing a decline of 1.3 per cent from the previous year.
Furthermore, due to the record low haul of Japanese flying squid and Pacific saury heavily affected the total fisheries and aquaculture production, which stood at its lowest since the survey of these species began in 1956. The record low catch appears to have been caused by several factors, including natural environmental influences such as changes in ocean temperatures as well as the rise in the fish catches in neighbouring countries.
The measures being considered by agriculture ministry include mapping out a strategy to raise the country’s fish production by tightening fish catches and bolstering the aquaculture industry. So far, fisheries resources have been controlled mainly by limiting the size and the number of fishing vessels. However, the ministry will shift its focus to controlling the volume of fish hauls. Asahi Shimbun also informed that to carry out thorough controls on fish catches, the ministry will consider expanding the setting of ceilings on the amount of fish taken by species, which has been already introduced for some. This will be coupled with the expansion of the species for catch quotas by fishery operators and fishing vessels.
As a control measure, the maximum sustainable yield (MSY) concept, the largest annual catch that can be maintained over an indefinite period, is also under consideration for introduction. As for regulatory reform, the ministry will consider reviewing the system to allow well-heeled companies and other entities with large sales markets to more easily acquire aquaculture fishery rights for tuna or seabream, and other species. The government’s Regulatory Reform Council is discussing measures in the fisheries industry and is scheduled to compile a proposal at an early date. The ministry’s annual survey shows the wild fish catch reached a record low of 3.26 million tons, a drop of 0.2 per cent compared to the previous year. While ocean-farmed fish output fell to 985,000 tons, a 4.6 per cent drop from a year earlier, freshwater fishing and aquaculture production dwindled for the second consecutive year to 62,000 tons, a drop of 1.7 per cent from 2016.