Will Japan's seafood exports shift towards Europe and America? Japanese media: Difficulty!
According to the Asahi Shimbun on September 5th, the Japanese government announced assistance measures for seafood practitioners on September 4th, affected by China's complete cessation of imports of Japanese aquatic products. The pillar policies include "changing export destinations" and "strengthening domestic processing systems", with the main purpose of "getting rid of dependence on China". Japan intends to designate Europe, America, and Southeast Asia as new export destinations, but it faces multiple difficulties in achieving them.
According to the report, according to statistics from the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, China is Japan's largest exporter of aquatic products, and Japan's aquatic product processing industry also heavily relies on China. This aid policy also includes measures to strengthen Japan's domestic processing system.
However, the view of the Japanese production line is not optimistic. Junzhao Geneda, who operates a seafood processing enterprise in Hokkaido, questioned whether the government's measures have practical significance, as Japan's building materials prices are skyrocketing and machinery and electricity costs are also soaring. Even if processing points are set up domestically, whether workers can be hired is still a major issue.
The Japanese government also plans to hold Japanese food exhibitions and sales events in Europe and America. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida sees the global food and beverage boom as a driving force for expanding export destinations. However, the actual effect is currently unknown.
The report suggests that Japanese food is mainly exported to Asian countries such as China. Although the scale of the European and American markets is large, the significant differences in food culture still pose obstacles. Moreover, generally speaking, health regulations in Europe and America are stricter than those in Asia, and may require longer time to respond.
The president of Qiaokou Aquatic Products, a aquaculture and processing enterprise in Nagasaki Prefecture, stated that China's complete cessation of imports is expected to cause losses of hundreds of millions of yen. About 95% of the company's catfish are exported overseas, of which about 20% are sold to China. "The company is currently in the stage of business expansion," Hashimoto said. "November will officially enter the export season, and it is expected to cause even greater losses.".
According to Agence France Presse on September 4th, the Japanese government has continuously discharged contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean for several days. Over a hundred fishermen and citizens from the Fukushima area plan to file a lawsuit to prevent authorities from continuing to discharge water into the sea.
According to reports, many Japanese fishermen have been opposed to the discharge of nuclear wastewater into the sea, fearing that it will ruin years of efforts by the Japanese fishing industry to improve its image after the 2011 disaster.
A protest alliance consisting of over 100 fishermen and citizens from Fukushima and neighboring counties and cities plans to officially file a lawsuit with the Fukushima court on September 8th.
Protesters issued a joint statement stating that this is a wrong policy as it ignores strong opposition from Fukushima fishermen and people across the country, and is an absolutely intolerable measure.
