Chris Loew

The Pew Charitable Trusts is urging regional fishery management organizations (RFMOs) to adopt a harvest strategy and harvest control rule for North Pacific albacore to prevent the possibility of future overfishing.

North Pacific albacore is the fish that sparked the explosive growth of the cannery industry in the U.S. state of California in the early 20th century, and made canned tuna a mainstay product in U.S. grocery stores. The fishery is

Fukuoka, Japan-based Yamaya Communications, a producer of mentaiko, has advanced from its humble origins to become the largest producer of the product in Japan.

Mentaiko is pollock roe marinated in chili, sake, kelp, and citrus for several hours. Originally a Korean dish, mentaiko was introduced to Japan in the 1950s and became a delicacy in Fukuoka, a city on the island of Kyushu. Today, all of Japan's major producers of the product are

As Japan’s average seafood consumption continues to wane, the country is continuing to engage in efforts to increase awareness of local fish.  

The country’s per capita seafood consumption peaked in 2001, and has been steadily declining as younger Japanese people gravitate toward meat and more Western-style cuisine. As a result, younger people are becoming less familiar with local fish options. Compounding the issue, the

Japanese eels have been discovered inhabiting several rivers in Hokkaido, the most northern prefecture in the country and an area previously thought to be beyond the species’ range.

The Tohoku region, consisting of northeastern Honshu Island, was formerly thought to be the northern limit of the Japanese eel’s range. Scientists are speculating that a change in currents or warmer water temperatures caused by climate change have allowed

Kyoto, Japan-based Regional Fish Institute is now selling gene-edited pufferfish to the public – one of the first times a gene-edited seafood product was offered over-the-counter to Japanese consumers.

The company’s online store has been offering the product since it gained government approval in 2021. The sale of gene-edited fish is part of a wider trend in Japan toward the new technology.

Unlike the European Union, Japan

A scientific report by Morocco’s National Institute for Fisheries Research (INRH, per its French acronym) indicates the nation's cephalopod catch is down by 60 percent, most significantly in the southern part of the country, according to Morocco-based news site Le Reporter.

According Le Reporter, word in the industry is that the current decline is due to poaching by an “octopus mafia.” There has been lax enforcement of the

Mowi’s Japanese operations remain robust, despite recent supply-chain challenges and an increasingly competitive marketplace, according to Mowi Japan Sales and Marketing Director Michinori Hoshijima.

Bergen, Norway-based Mowi is by far the world’s biggest Atlantic salmon-farming company, having produced an equivalent of 449,000 gutted-weight tons (GWT) in 2021. While the company did not disclose its sales in Japan for 2021, overall,

DHA, a type of omega-3 acid, is becoming a profit driver for both Maruha Nichiro and rival seafood company Nissui – along with other chemicals derived from marine sources, including EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid), chondroitin, and squalene – helping add to the bottom lines of two of the world’s largest seafood companies, both based in Tokyo, Japan.

The signs of the chemicals becoming increasingly important are highlighted in