Chris Loew

Chris Loew

Contributing Editor reporting from Osaka, Japan

Chris Loew reports from Osaka, Japan as a contributing editor for SeafoodSource.com. In addition to writing for SeafoodSource.com, he covers Japan for stock-investing newsletter Global Investing. He co-authored a college language text, “Healthcare English:  Read, Write and Speak It.” When not writing, he proofreads Japanese-to-English translations. Chris is a 1990 graduate of The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. After graduation, he worked for two years in the purchasing department of a Japanese meat importer, and for five years as export director for two Seattle food companies, selling to customers in the Far East, and arranging shipping and export documentation for mixed containers of frozen foods.


Author Archive

Published on
August 11, 2023

Kristiansund, Norway-based C Robotics is working to transform shellfish harvesting and aquaculture operations through a line of underwater remote operated vehicles (ROVs).

The company, formed in 2017 by a group of professionals who have extensive experience in the subsea oil and gas, maritime, and fishing industries, has dubbed its most recent ROV the BabyBud. The underwater ROV is intended to clean fish cages after harvesting, among other

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Published on
August 10, 2023

Tokyo, Japan-based Nissui, Japan’s second-largest seafood company by revenue, is well on its way to achieving its revenue targets for its aquaculture operations it set for fiscal year (FY) 2024.

Nissui's sales of aquaculture products increased from JPY 59.9 billion (USD 425.5 million, EUR 383.2 million) to JPY 69.1 billion (USD 485 million, EUR 441 million) in FY 2022, a 15.3 percent increase year over year and 92 percent of its 2024 sales

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Published on
August 3, 2023

The United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement (UNFSA) Resumed Review Conference, held at U.N. headquarters in New York City, U.S.A., elicited disappointingly few actionable recommendations that the seafood industry could use to further improve, according to several attendees.

UNFSA is a multilateral treaty aiming to promote effective, cooperative management of highly migratory fish stocks – mainly tuna, sharks, marlin, and swordfish. The treaty

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Published on
July 31, 2023

Japan has received the green light to release treated cooling water from the controversial Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean, prompting some of Japan’s neighbors to increase seafood testing requirements or expand the number of Japanese prefectures covered by import bans over fears of radiation contamination.

A positive review from the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency, which the plant received on

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Published on
July 28, 2023

Rising costs, sustainability issues, and supply chain problems surrounding traditional fishmeal have pushed some Japanese researchers toward developing alternative sources of protein for use in aquaculture feed, including mushroom substrate.

Mushroom substrate is not the only alternative protein currently undergoing experimentation throughout Japan. Other options such as insects, single-cell organisms, and citrus byproducts are all increasingly

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Published on
July 24, 2023

Manufacturers belonging to the Japan Fish Feed Association will not meet new Aquaculture Stewardship Council (ASC) feed standards, leaving Japan with only one major fish feed maker that is likely to meet the updated requirements: the Japanese subsidiary of Stavanger, Norway-based Skretting.

The London, U.K.-based ASC launched its new Feed Standard V1.01 on 15 June, 2021, and the standards became effective starting 14 January, 2023, allowing feed

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Published on
July 24, 2023

The popularity of “burihara,” a yellowtail crossbreed originally developed in 2017 by Kindai University in Hagashi-Osaka, has begun to skyrocket in Japan, with supermarkets and sushi stores drastically increasing their sales of the product nationwide.

Burihara, which is the offspring of a female “buri,” or yellowtail (Seriola quinqueradiata), and a male “hiramasa,” or yellowtail amberjack (Seriola lalandi), is

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Published on
July 21, 2023

A working party on neritic tunas – one of seven working parties supporting the Scientific Committee of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) – is trying to get a better handle on the state of the resource, for which detailed data has been lacking.

In contrast to oceanic tunas, which migrate over large areas, neritic tunas such as longtail tuna (Thunnus tonggol), eastern little tuna (Euthynnus affinis), frigate tuna (Auxis thazard),

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Published on
July 21, 2023

The Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) and the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) – two regional fishery management organizations (RFMOs) that set rules for tuna fishing in the Pacific Ocean – have rejected a Japanese proposal to speed up catch limit increases of Pacific bluefin tuna.

The Japanese delegation that attended a meeting of the Joint Working Group on Pacific Bluefin Tuna from 3 to 5 July

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Published on
July 17, 2023

Osaka, Japan-based sushi chain Kura Sushi is expanding its local fish project titled “Kura no Ippin,” aiming to implement the initiative in 530 of its restaurants nationwide by August 2023.

The initiative involves the use of locally-caught fish in limited-quantity specials on a weekly basis throughout each of Japan’s eight regions. The fish used in the project change depending on weekly catches so that customers can enjoy

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