Chris Loew

Highlights from last week’s ninth annual Japan International Seafood & Technology Expo at Tokyo Big Sight, which featured approximately 30,000 visitors and 550 exhibitors:

• Kasuhisa Fukumoto of the Norwegian Seafood Export Council said Norwegian farmed salmon is benefiting from strong demand due to the infectious salmon anemia outbreak in Chile, which has curbed farmed salmon production there. However, because of the long-term nature

Yellowtail was among the seafood species receiving a lot of play at last week’s ninth annual Japan International Seafood & Technology Expo at Tokyo Big Sight, featuring approximately 30,000 visitors and 550 exhibitors.

In Japan, young yellowtail is called hamachi and is mainly a sushi or sashimi item, while older yellowtail is called buri and may also be used for grilling with teriyaki sauce.

Yellowtail, amberjack (kampachi) and sea

Bluefin tuna has been the subject of much debate this year. The film "End of the Line," released in June, brought the species' plight to the public's attention, and Greenpeace has ramped up its campaign to prevent bluefin tuna overfishing. But, according to Rich Ruais, executive director of the American Bluefin Tuna Association and proprietor of TunaNews.org, the environmental camp doesn't always get its facts straight when it comes to bluefin

In Japan, independent sushi bars with artisan sushi chefs are struggling to compete with kaiten, or conveyor belt, sushi chains, which feature low prices, quick self-service, ample seating and parking and a casual, kid-friendly atmosphere.

Same-store sales in May at leading kaiten sushi chains Kappa Zushi and Akindo Sushiro were up 9.9 percent and 8.4 percent, respectively, compared to the same month last year, even as dinner restaurants, pubs

The Japan International Seafood and Technology Expo will be held 22 to 24 July at Tokyo Big Sight, the same week as the Japanese national holiday Marine Day (20 July).

Organizers expect about 30,000 people to visit the 550 exhibitors, making it Asia’s most visited seafood show. The China Fisheries and Seafood Expo, held last November in Qingdao, which also claims to be Asia’s largest seafood show, had 735 exhibitors, but only 15,000

Demand for Japanese seafood is being bolstered by bargains, which appeal to price-conscious housewives. In the first quarter of this year, one in four meals at home included fish, rising despite the long-term shift toward red meat in Japan.

Japan’s exports of Pacific saury, mackerel and pink salmon have been hit hard by weak Asian demand since the global economy took a nosedive, leaving much domestic fish unsold.

A rising yen since the

Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has submitted its annual White Paper on Fisheries to the legislature for approval.

The report’s topics include bolstering consumer confidence in seafood, harvesting tuna and whales sustainably, advancing research in eel cultivation technology, and managing fluctuating fuel prices.

But perhaps the most pressing topic included in the White Paper on Fisheries is Japan’s declining

Sojitz is among the Japanese companies that is reprocessing more seafood in Vietnam. Its JALUX subsidiary imports farmed rainbow trout from Norway and reprocesses the fish in Vietnam to reduce labor costs.

Ras Super Fries Ltd., a Japanese foodservice supplier of gourmet foods, displayed two JALUX rainbow trout products at Japan's FOODEX 2009.

For Salmon-Trout Tataki, the surfaces of a two-piece side of trout-salmon, or rainbow trout, are seared,

Since Kanedai Co. Ltd. opened a processing plant in Yantai, in China's Shandong province, in August 2000, labor costs have nearly doubled, though they are still one-tenth of those in Japan, and utility costs are on the rise. Yet, the company thinks China is still the best place to process its Japanese snow crab, deep-sea red crab (Chaceon quinquedens) and sweet shrimp.
 
Choosing to go it alone rather than work with a Chinese partner, Kanedai

Expect a large increase in Oregon's groundfish catch due to a switch from two-month trip limits to six-month individual fishing quotas (IFQs) in 2011, Brad Pettinger, director of the Oregon Trawl Commission, said at the FOODEX 2009 trade show near Tokyo earlier this month.
 
Pettinger expects the groundfish bycatch to drop under the IQF fishery management system. He also said West Coast groundfish stocks are recovering - overfished species have