EXCLUSIVE: Japan Eyes Cost-Sharing System for Breeding of Fugu Fish

May 17, 2018

Tokyo- As part of its efforts to increase catches of fugu puffer fish, popular in Japan for eating after their poisonous parts are removed, the Fisheries Agency is considering a system to share costs for breeding and releasing young fugu among related prefectures, Jiji Press has learned.

Torafugu, or tiger puffer, is among fish species that can be caught far from where they are released, also including hirame flounder and madai red sea bream.

In Japan, juvenile torafugu is mainly released in the Seto Inland Sea between the Chugoku and Shikoku western regions, and the Ariake Sea in the Kyushu southwestern region. However, main fishing grounds for mature torafugu are located in the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea.

In prefectures where young torafugu is bred and released, the governments of the prefectures provide subsidies for the efforts. The Fisheries Agency is now studying a system to have other torafugu-catching prefectures cover part of the subsidy payments, informed sources said.

The agency is looking at determining cost-sharing rates linked to the proportion of released torafugu in each prefecture's torafugu catches.

DNA analysis is eyed for distinguishing released torafugu from others. The agency plans to start a study on the method as early as fiscal 2019, which begins in April next year.

"It's hard to make a notch (for marking) in fins of tens of thousands of fish (before release), and moreover the market value of fish with damaged fins is lower," an agency official said. Jiji Press