Tsunami Speeds ‘Terminal Decline’ of Japan’s Fishing Industry

[marmar]

(Bloomberg) The wreckage of a 379-metric ton tuna boat blocks the road to the deserted fish market in Kesennuma, once Japan’s largest port for bonito and swordfish. Even after the debris from last month’s tsunami has been cleared away, the industry may never recover.

“Thirty years ago we used to think Japan was the number one fishing country in the world, with the best catching and processing methods, but that’s really no longer the case,” Ryosuke Sato, chairman of the Kesennuma Fisheries Cooperative Association, said in an interview in the town, 400 kilometers (250 miles) north of Tokyo. “We’ve been in terminal decline.”

Traffic at the port had dropped by 90 percent over the last 20 years as seafood imports rose, even before the country’s northeastern coast was devastated on March 11. Destruction of boats, harbors and processing plants, coupled with fears of radioactive contamination in marine life, threatens to hasten Japan’s turn to overseas for its most important food staple after rice.

Japanese eat more fish per capita than any other developed country, consuming 56.7 kilograms (128 pounds) annually, compared with a global average of 17.1 kilograms, according to the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization. Fish accounts for 23 percent of protein in the daily Japanese diet, compared with four percent in the U.S. ............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-24/tsunami-speeds-terminal-decline-of-japan-s-fishing-industry.html

[midnight]

1. K&R.

[callous taoboy]

2. Everything seems to be in decline.

In a dark mood this a.m.

[Vogon_Glory]

3. The Tidal Wave Knocked Out Some Of Japan's Whaling Ships

The tidal wave also knocked out some of Japan's whaling ships. I hope those whaling ships stay wrecked and aren't replaced.