Japan’s love affair with fish
But with global stocks decimated and illegal fishing rife will it be off the menu?
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In Japan, eating fish is a time honoured tradition, but has the nation with the seemingly insatiable appetite bitten off more than it can chew?
The news that some favourites and delicacies are in danger of disappearing from the menu is unpalatable if not downright distasteful.
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| Scientists in this fish farm run by a Japanese University are breeding Blue Fin Tuna |
In Japan, illegal fishing is rife and Japan’s notorious gangsters, the yakuza, are making a killing.
Yet these offenders are small fry compared to a heist on the high seas that has created an international scandal.
Japanese trawlers plundered more than 200,000 tonnes of southern blue fin tuna worth in excess of ten billion dollars.
Joining the show to discuss the threats posed to Japan’s love affair with fish are Duncan Leadbitter, the regional director of the Asia Pacific Marine Stewardship Council, Nicola Beynon, a spokeswoman for the Humane Society International, and Masanori Miyahara from the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
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This episode of 101 East airs from Thursday, December 20, 2007
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