Endangered eel resources - countermeasures that Japan, the largest consumer country, should take
This summer, the "raw material" of eel seedlings for farmed eel - "eel line" appeared in a shortage of fish, which led to a tight supply of eel and an increase in prices, which attracted great attention. In addition to the destruction of the river environment, the most important reason why eel resources are in a state of crisis is the lack of management countermeasures for eel resources and the resulting indiscriminate fishing. Japan's eel consumption accounts for more than 70% of the world's total consumption, which means that Japan's relevant industries, fishermen, governments and even consumers are extremely responsible for this.
Eel farming that can only rely on natural resources
In recent decades, the production of Eel-friendly fish has decreased sharply, both in the Eel line and in rivers and lakes. In 1961, the annual catch of Eel-friendly fish was even close to 3400 tons, but now it has been sharply reduced to less than 200 tons. In 2011, Japan's domestic eel consumption by adult fish was about 56,000 tons, so these fishfish, known as "natural eel", are less than 0.5% of total consumption. Almost all of the Eel we eat every day are "farmed Eel" grown in breeding ponds at home and abroad.
However, because the artificial breeding technology of eels is far from reaching the stage of practical application, although it is a breeding eel, it also puts the captured natural eel line into the pond and feeds bait for growing up. That is to say, our eel consumption is actually all dependent on natural resources. Like eel relatives, the catch of eel lines has dropped sharply from more than 230 tons in 1963 to less than 10 tons now. The catch of this season is once again less than 10 tons, and it has encountered an extreme fish shortage for the third consecutive year. The crisis of the depletion of eel resources is becoming increasingly prominent, and the long-term concern that eels will be on the verge of extinction has gradually become a reality.
By the second half of the 1980s, eel production in Japan fluctuated at a level of 40,000 tons throughout the year. In addition, about 25,000 tons to 40,000 tons were imported from Taiwan every year. And this pattern began to change around 1987. One of the opportunities is that the eel farming industry for the Japanese market has flourished in China, and the imports of eel products processed by cheap labor have soared. In 1988, the import volume of processed eels reached 30,000 tons, almost twice that of 87 years, and has maintained an increase since then. In 2000, Japan imported more than 130,000 tons of eels from China and Taiwan, setting an all-time high, with an unprecedented domestic circulation of nearly 160,000 tons. This means that it has nearly tripled in about 15 years.
China's transit or processing, "thin profit and high sales" has become a fixed model
Japan's eel consumption has skyrocketed, and the price has plummeted. In the past, the high-priced grilled eel (called "Pu-yaki eel" in Japan, the Japanese cooking method of deboning the eel and cutting it into an appropriate length, drizzling soy sauce-based seasoning, and skewering bamboo sticks - a Japanese cooking method in eel franchise restaurants has also changed greatly. Bento in convenience stores, well-processed in supermarkets Boxed grilled eel has become the mainstream form of eel consumption. It is said that today people's consumption in eel specialty restaurants accounts for only about 30 per 3% of the total consumption. The quotation is also much lower than that of franchised restaurants, and the consumption trend of "low profit and high sales" in the eel market has been deeply rooted in people's hearts. In order to cope with the large influx of boxed grilled eel processed products from China, Japanese domestic enterprises have also had to turn to the production and sale of processed products, which has also promoted a change in the form of consumption.
However, in the short term, "multi-sale" will only lead to the further deterioration of the already depleted eel resources. The catch volume of Japanese eel continues to decrease, and European eels imported to Japan in large quantities by China have been included in the list of controlled species of the Washington Convention, which aims to control international trade in endangered wild species.
Emergency countermeasures for the lack of effectiveness of the Fisheries Department
In the face of the increasingly serious eel resource crisis, there is no doubt that this small-profit and multi-selling consumption model cannot be maintained all the time. However, there are no obvious changes in the sales, circulation and consumption structure of eels in Japan. The most typical example is that although the problem of resource depletion is so serious, in the case of soaring eel prices, convenience stores and supermarkets still encourage people to consume cheap eel products at the occasion of "the local ugly day in summer (18 days before the beginning of autumn in the lunar calendar are local ugly day in summer, the Japanese believe that eels have the effect of improving appetite and physical strength, and are used to eating eels to relieve the summer heat on this day - translation)", among which some enterprises do not hesitate to reduce prices to maintain "thin profits and sell more".
The lack of administrative measures further contributes to the seriousness of the problem. Although it is an important fishery resource, Japan has almost no reliable data on the amount of eel resources and catches. Without data, it is naturally impossible to grasp the reasonable and appropriate catch. Except for some counties, resource management has not been carried out at all. These are the current realities. Against the background of the reduction of eel resources, researchers have long called for scientific investigation of eel resources and the introduction of fisheries control policies. However, the Department of Aquatic Products and other government departments turned a idden. The situation has developed to this point, and they bear a great responsibility. The management of eel international trade is not in place, and there are opaque components in international trade, which has long been an open secret between relevant industries.
Due to the extreme reduction of resources and the high price of eel lines, the Fisheries Department finally sorted out emergency countermeasures at the end of June this year, claiming that it would prompt relevant parties to take measures to reduce the fishing of eels that are about to lay eggs and ensure that the eel lines can swim back into the river. However, the countermeasure is not coercive, and the relevant people of the autonomous body have raised questions about its effectiveness.
In mid-June, the head of the Fisheries Department visited China and held its first consultation with the head of the Ministry of Agriculture of China. However, the substantive discussion is only half a day. Japan's request for a visit to the breeding facilities has not been realized, and the schedule for the next consultation has not been determined. At the end of July, based on Japan's initiative, Japan, China and Taiwan reached a consensus on establishing a cooperation framework for the protection of eel resources between the three parties, and decided to continue to study the issue of controlling fishing operations, but due to insufficient data and other reasons, there is still a long way to go to achieve effective international cooperation.
Japan's domestic resource management countermeasures are top priorities
In order to restore eel resources and achieve sustainable use, the most important task now is to implement resource management in Japan and realize the rational development of the market. It is necessary to significantly reduce the catch of eel lines and strengthen customs control over opaque imports.
As the largest consumer country, Japan cannot be understood even if it calls on relevant countries to cooperate in resource management, and as long as there is opaque international trade, it will not be able to improve its effectiveness. Japan has the world's largest eel market. Without taking the lead and fulfilling the responsibilities that have never been fulfilled for a long time, it will not be possible to realize the management of eel resources. In order to control the fishing of eel relatives in rivers and coastal areas, and to obtain accurate statistics, the "East Asian Eel Resources Agreement", led by an expert on eel ecology and Professor Katsumi Tsukamoto of the Institute of Atmospheric Oceanography of the University of Tokyo, and co-participated by relevant people from Japan, China, South Korea and other industries, put forward suggestions such as national unified management of line fishing activities in March this year.
Consumers and the circulation industry that supports consumption also bear great responsibilities. Due to the influx of imported eels in the short term, eels, which used to be high-end ingredients, have unconsciously become a large number of cheap ingredients sold in convenience stores and supermarkets. During the period when the price plummeted due to the influx of imported eels, the average price per kilogram of eels was only about 800 yen, while the current price per kilogram of eel fish is more than 2,000 yen, which seems to be a little expensive. However, considering that many transaction prices were more than 1,800 yen in the past, the current price is not as high. We must take this opportunity to promote the transformation of the eel business model, from the current "thin profit and more sales" formed in a period of bubble, "quantity is better than quality" to "quality is better than quantity". Otherwise, the problem of reducing resources will further worsen, and consumers who eat inferior products will abandon eels, thus accelerating the deterioration of the income of the entire eel industry and the disintegration of the industry base, forming a vicious circle that will never escape triple hardships. The final result will be the collapse of eel resources and eel fishing. Relevant practitioners in the eel fishing industry, breeding, processing, sales and circulation, and more importantly, Japanese consumers who only want to be cheap must change their minds and take responsible actions. ( Author: 井田徹治)