Chris Loew

The Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) has once again failed to reach an agreement on new skipjack or yellowfin quotas, or on managing drifting fish aggregating devices (dFADs), two issues that have stymied cooperation among its members and resulted in calls for new management methods.

The 27th session of the IOTC, held from 8 to 12 May in Mauritius, reached agreements on monitoring measures, how it responds to violations of its management

On 4 April, the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) released photos showing extensive damage to a containment chamber at the Fukushima nuclear power plant.

The photos, taken at the end of March by a robotic probe inside the primary containment chamber of the plant's Unit 1, showed that the pedestal, a concrete supporting structure over a meter thick located directly beneath the reactor core, suffered significant damage near its bottom, exposing

The morning of 9 March, an unusual event occurred at the Choshi City Fishery Cooperative Association’s No. 2 Wholesale Market, located in Japan’s Chiba Prefecture. 

A vessel unloaded its hold of largehead hairtail (Trichiurus lepturus, or tachiuo in Japanese), filling several trucks that would carry the catch to local processors. The warmwater fish, which are also sometimes called “scabbardfish,” are most common in

Following a wave of unhygienic prank videos posted online by customers at conveyor belt sushi shops, Japanese police have made arrests related to two incidents.

On 9 March, police arrested three diners, aged 21, 19, and 15, over a video filmed at a Kura Sushi restaurant in Nagoya on 3 February. The stunts in the video included licking a soy sauce dispenser.

“We sincerely hope the arrest will spread awareness in society that these pranks,

A recently approved Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) measure instituting a closure period for drifting fish-aggregating devices (dFADs) is continuing to cause tension, with the European Union recently announcing it is objecting to the decision. 

The E.U. is putting forward two new proposals at the next meeting: one to replace the dFAD rule to which it has objected, and another to set new tropical tuna quotas, in place of an earlier

An egg substitute made of pollock has seen growing success in Japan as consumers cope with a shortage of chicken eggs.

A global epidemic of Avian influenza has resulted in a a shortage of eggs as flocks are culled to limit the spread of the virus. Additionaly, chicken feed prices have shot up as grain shipments from Russia and Ukraine were interrupted by their war, resulting in higher egg prices.

Shortages have forced food-makers to discontinue

The North Pacific Fisheries Commission (NPFC) decided to close gaps in management, improve the vessel authorization process, report transshipment of bycatch species, and require reporting of International Maritime Organization (IMO) numbers at its latest meeting – held nearly a year late. 

The seventh annual session of the commission, held in Sapporo, Japan, from 22 to 24 March, 2023, was originally scheduled for 28 to 30 March, 2022,

As the global market for high-value tuna undergoes a significant shift, a Canada-based bluefin tuna exporter to broaden it sales beyond Japan.

Jason Thompkins, the owner of North Lake, Prince Edward Island, Canada-based One Tuna, told SeafoodSource during the Foodex Japan expo he hoped to make new contacts outside of Japan. Foodex Japan is the largest annual food and beverage trade show in Asia, offering exhibitors access not only to

A delegation of representatives from 11 Turkish trout producers recently visited Tokyo and Osaka for business matching meetings with importers. The trip comes as Turkey is experiencing a boom in exports, and as Japan seeks to diversify its sourcing beyond Norway and Chile.

The meetings, held in Tokyo on 31 January and in Osaka on 2 February, gave the Turkish exporters a chance to promote their farmed rainbow trout, which is marketed as

In January 2023, the Global Tuna Alliance (GTA) hired Gunther Errhalt as its first Japan outreach officer. The GTA is an independent group of retailers and tuna supply-chain companies committed to achieving more transparent, socially responsible, and environmentally sustainable tuna fisheries. The group uses its collective purchasing power to influence the policies of tuna-focused regional fisheries management organizations. Based in