Shrinking tuna population drives Japan seafood producers to seek alternative supply

Channel NewsAsia 1 Jan 08

KAGOSHIMA, Japan : Over the new year holidays, quality raw fish like tuna is a much sought-after festive delicacy in Japan.

But a slash in the country's fishing quotas due to the shrinking tuna population is driving seafood producers to look at alternative ways to increase supply.

A slice of otoro - the fattiest part of the tuna belly - is prized by the Japanese. Fans rave about its melt-in-the-mouth texture. The most expensive tuna is the bluefin, known as the diamond of the sea.

Japan consumes some two-thirds of the world's catch.

But as bluefin tuna numbers are dwindling, the country's annual fishing quotas have been reduced.

Its quota for the southern bluefin tuna has been halved for five years.

A United Nations agency warns that if strict measures are not taken to prevent over-fishing, the industry could collapse by 2050.

To increase the supply of bluefin tuna, a team from fishing giant Maruha Corporate is seeking to breed the fish from eggs.

Its farm is located on the island of Amami Oshima in Kagoshima prefecture.

The area is regarded as ideal for bluefin tuna farming because the climate is mild. The lowest is 20 degrees Celsius, even during the winter time, and the highest at 30 degrees Celsius.

Breeding bluefin tuna successfully requires not just ideal conditions, but also the latest fish cultivation technology and techniques.

"The success rate of breeding blue-fin tuna from roe is between 5 and 10 percent. Raising bluefin tuna from fry yields a success rate of 30-40 percent," said Jun Onodera, manager of Amami Fish Farm.

"We're trying to increase our production. The Maruha Group commands a 30-percent share of the domestic market for bluefin tuna. Our volume will go up, but our competitors are expanding too," said Masahiro Yoshitake, Aquaculturing Operations Department, Maruha Corporation.

Maruho is Japan's top seafood producer. Three quarters of its sales come from its marine products division.

Most of the tuna raised here goes to the Osaka and the Tokyo area. But they have also started to sell to major Asian cities such as Shanghai, Bangkok and Singapore as sushi boom in the region increases in demand. - CNA /ls