Fishing industry in Japan

The fishing industry in Japan constitutes both a major industry and export.

Government position

The Japanese Fisheries Agency states that the Basic Fisheries Plan was developed by the Japanese government in 2007, and claims that the government is working to establish long-standing, strong fisheries and fishery practices by promoting the overall restoration of the fishery industry. This can be accomplished by promoting surveys and research into fishery resources, the promotion of international resource management in international waters, promoting international cooperation within the international fishing grounds, and improving the living environments for all aquatic life in inland waters, while at the same time promoting aquaculture. This restoration consists of many different phases to include the restoration and management of high-level fishery resources.

Other priorities of the Japanese government include continuing to develop new technologies to improve fishery operations, whether incorporating new workplace needed technologies, or creating and exploiting intellectual properties. Also, at the top of the list is the reorganization of the fish-labor industry organizations from the top down. The government provides support to the fishery operators groups by helping to acquire the equipment necessary to reduce fuel consumption, through the introduction of energy-saving operating systems. In order to maintain a strong work force in the fishery industry, the government has programs to encourage college students to look into the industry as a possible career path. This includes supporting activities that provide the opportunity to experience stationary net fishing and aquaculture. The government also provides the prospective employees with job information from fisheries worldwide while holding job seminars with well recognized companies in the Japanese fishery business. There is also a government sponsored on-site training program for individuals planning to make a career in the fishery industry. The fisheries in Japan are governed by the Japanese Fisheries Agency.

The Fisheries Agency is organized into four departments: Fisheries Policy Planning Department, Resources Management Department, Resources Development Department, and Fishing Port Department. The Fisheries Policy Planning Department is in charge of the planning of policies concerning the fisheries, and all administrative matters that go along with the organization. The Resources Management Department plans the continuous development of Japan's fisheries. The Resources Development Department is in charge of the scientific research and development in the field of fisheries. The Fishing Port Department is the base for fishery production activities and also the basis for the distribution and processing of the marine products.

Techniques

• Ayu fishing
• Tenkara fishing, a type of roach fishing
• Factory ship
• Artificial reefs are used to increase the sustainable fishing activities on the coastline.

Whaling

Main article: Whaling in Japan

Dolphin drive hunting

Main article: Dolphin drive hunting

Policy

The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (Japan) is the government agency responsible for the fishing industry.

Prominent companies

Two of the largest fishing companies in Japan are Nippon Suisan Kaisha and Maruha Nichiro; each employs more than 10,000 people and owns subsidiaries around the world.

In literature

In 2008, Takiji Kobayashi's A Crab Canning Boat, a 1929 Marxist novel about a crab boat crew determined to stand up to a cruel captain under harsh conditions, became a surprise bestseller, thanks to an advertising campaign linking the novel to the working poor.

See also

• Agriculture in Japan
• Radiation effects from Fukushima I nuclear accidents
• Marine biology

External links

• MAFF website

Sources

• Comitini, S. (1966). MARINE RESOURCES EXPLOITATION AND MANAGEMENT IN THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF JAPAN. Economic Development & Cultural Change, 14(4), 414. Retrieved from Business Source Complete database.
• Fisheries Agency. (2009). Fisheries Policy for FY2009 (Executive Summary). Retrieved from http://www.jfa.maff.go.jp/e/annual_report?2008/pdf/data3.pdf
• Adrianto, L.,Yoshiaki, M., Yoshiaki, S. (1995). Assessing local sustainability of fisheries system: a multi-criteriea participatory approach with the case of Yoron Island, Kagoshima prefecture, Japan. Marine Policy, 29(1),19-23. Retrieved from Science Direct database.