Chris Loew

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

A Japan-based company has unveiled a new type of liquid freezer it has dubbed the “Food Time Machine” for its ability to rapidly freeze food.

The Food Service Division of Kawagoe City, Saitama Prefecture-based Howshow Co. introduced the "Food Time Machine" at Seafood Show Osaka, which took place 21 and 22 February at ATC Hall in Osaka, Japan.

According to Howshow CEO Koichi Nii, the Food Time Machine is capable of freezing a piece

Several nations that are members of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC) have submitted official objections that will exempt them from complying with a recently passed measure restricting the use of drifting fish-aggregating devices (dFADs). 

A contentions special session of the IOTC recently passed Measure 23-02, governing the use of dFADs. Specifically, the measure would create a dFAD register with a unique identifying number for

An underreporting scandal is tarnishing the reputation of Japan’s most highly-regarded regional bluefin tuna brand, and prompting a call for improved traceability.

Two fishery company presidents were arrested on 7 February, 2023, in the port town of Oma in Aomori Prefecture for allegedly failing to report catches of bluefin tuna to the prefectural government.

Tadaaki Nitta and Kazumi Sasaki, the presidents of Uochu and Saihoku Suisan,

Maruha Nichiro, the world's largest seafood company, reported its highest-ever sales and operating profit for the nine month period from April through December.

In its 6 February filing, the Tokyo-based company said that it grew net sales by 18 percent, from JPY 661.2 billion (USD 4.8 billion, EUR 4.5 billion) in the same period of 2021 to JPY 781 billion (USD 5.7 billion, EUR 5.4 billion) in 2022, while operating income rose by 20.4 percent,

Norwegian Seafood Council (NSC) Director for Japan and South Korea Johan Kvalheim talked to SeafoodSource about two campaigns for airflown fish he has been involved in since he took up the post in December of 2020. For airflown mackerel, the NSC worked with the Tokyo-based importer, JALUX, in a campaign called “Mackerel Nouveau,” a play on the fresh Beaujolais Nouveau wine so popular in Japan. Additionally, the Aeon supermarket chain

At a contentious special session of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission (IOTC), developing nations bucked pressure from the European Union and approved an annual closure period for drifting fish-aggregating devices (dFADs).

The IOTC is the regional fishery management organization (RFMO) that manages tuna fishing in the Indian Ocean. The three-day special session that ended on 5 February was held to consider a conservation and management measure on

After placing new sanctions on Russia, Japan now has to deal with its northern neighbor refusing to schedule annual negotiations for fishing access in territorial waters around the southern Kuril Islands.

Though the two countries recently completed a deal for fishing access for parts of each other’s exclusive economic zones (EEZs), Russia has ruled out any talks on access to waters around the disputed islands so long as Japan continues to