Japan's fishery output has dropped sharply, and imported seafood has become the main market

According to the recently released "Fisheries White Paper 2023", Japan's fishery and aquaculture production in 2022 was 3.9 million tons, a decrease of 24,000 tons (5.8%) from the previous year. The decline in production was mainly due to poor fishing of fish such as bonito and mackerel. However, due to soaring fish prices, the production value increased by 14.8% year-on-year to 1.6 trillion yen. At the same time, the total value of Japan's seafood imports in 2022 rose sharply to 2.1 trillion yen, far exceeding the domestic production value. Although the total import value fell by 2.7% year-on-year in 2023, it still remained at a high level of 2 trillion yen. In 2022, Japan's self-sufficiency rate for edible seafood was about 56%. This ratio has been on a long-term downward trend since it peaked at 113% in 1964. In addition, over the past decade, the number of people engaged in fisheries and aquaculture has increased significantly. The number of people in the aquaculture industry ...