Japan Proposes Reform to Prod More Firms into Aquaculture

May 24, 2018

Tokyo- Japan's Fisheries Agency said Thursday that it aims to allow companies to launch aquafarming operations by reviewing the current distribution system for fishing rights in a bid to expand production.

The plan was included in the agency's draft fisheries policy reform proposals submitted to a joint meeting of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's Fisheries Division and the Research Commission on Fishery Policies.

The proposals are designed to strengthen the country's fishery resource management and make fishing operations a growth industry.

In the proposals, the agency showed the directions of reforms related to fishery resource management, distribution systems of fishery products and human resources for the fishing industry's future.

Aquaculture is regarded as a key to attracting newcomers to the fishing industry. The agency aims to promote investment and the use of cutting-edge technologies in the aquafarming sector.

The focal point of the proposals is fishing rights in designated waters that are necessary for cultivation of such fishery products as porgy and oysters.

Currently, prefectural governors give such fishing rights in certain areas to local fisheries cooperatives, which in turn distribute the rights to member fishery operators.

The current system, therefore, makes it difficult for companies that do not belong to fishery cooperatives to enter the aquaculture industry.

Against this background, the agency hopes to adopt a new system under which fishing rights in unutilized waters are distributed without the involvement of cooperatives so that companies with substantial funds can launch aquafarming operations.

Also in the proposals, the agency calls for gradually increasing the types of fish with catch limits as part of efforts to strengthen fishery resource management for sustainable fishing. Jiji Press