Chris Loew

From 2 to 15 December, 2022, Kura Sushi featured farmed “AI Sumagatsuo” at it restaurants in Japan for the first time.

The “AI Sumagatsuo” – also known as eastern little tuna or mackerel tuna in English – is the third fish species being farmed at the sushi chain’s Kura Osakana Farm, joining its farming of red sea bream and yellowtail. Kura Sushi said its first batch of farmed mackerel tuna totaled 6

Sea urchin aquaculture company Urchinomics has secured the world's first voluntary blue carbon credit for kelp-bed restoration.

Urchinomics is based in IJmuiden, the Netherlands. Its Tokyo-based Japanese subsidiary, Uninomics K.K., farms sea urchins on a commercial scale in Kunisaki, Oita Prefecture, and Nagato, Yamaguchi Prefecture. By having divers remove sea urchins from “urchin barrens” – kelp beds overgrazed by the urchins

The listing of blue sharks by a body that regulates trade in endangered species will add a layer of paperwork for Japanese shark-product exporters.

The port of Kesennuma, Japan, located in the northeast of Japan’s main island of Honshu, is the main center for shark fishing and processing in Japan. Large numbers of shortfin mako and blue sharks are landed there annually, to be turned into gelatinous shark fin soup and fluffy white

The Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) wrapped up its 19th regular session in Da Nang, Vietnam, on 3 December, 2022, with an agreement to adopt a management procedure (MP) for skipjack tuna, but watered down the action by making it non-binding.

While the skipjack stock managed by the WCPFC is currently deemed healthy, the Marine Stewardship Council and other conservation groups have been pushing for the adoption of an MP,

Fuel and fishmeal and fish oil subsidies have been activitated in Japan, following the continued weakining of the Japanese yen. 

Japan has long-standing safety nets for the fishing sector, including fuel subsidies for capture fisheries and feed subsidies for aquaculture. The systems work on a matching-contribution system. In preparation for soaring fuel and compound feed prices, seafood companies and the government save funds at a

Tokyo, Japan-based Maruha Nichiro has rebranded with the goal of increasing its public profile and encouraging consumption of its seafood products.

The company was established in 2007 when two separate companies – Maruha and Nichiro – merged. Nearly a decade after the merger, the company performed a public study that found public recognition of its brand was relatively low, Maruha Nichiro Corporate Branding Department

The International Commission for Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT) wrapped up its 23rd special meeting with agreements on bluefin tuna and shark conservation.

At the meeting – held in a hybrid live and online format in Vale do Lobo, Portugal from 14 to 21 November – ICCAT member-states agreed to establish a management procedure for Atlantic bluefin and set a catch quota for the Southern Atlantic mako shark population.

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