Chris Loew

Chris Loew

Contributing Editor reporting from Osaka, Japan

Chris Loew reports from Osaka, Japan as a contributing editor for SeafoodSource.com. In addition to writing for SeafoodSource.com, he covers Japan for stock-investing newsletter Global Investing. He co-authored a college language text, “Healthcare English:  Read, Write and Speak It.” When not writing, he proofreads Japanese-to-English translations. Chris is a 1990 graduate of The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. After graduation, he worked for two years in the purchasing department of a Japanese meat importer, and for five years as export director for two Seattle food companies, selling to customers in the Far East, and arranging shipping and export documentation for mixed containers of frozen foods.

Published on
December 12, 2022

Fuel and fishmeal and fish oil subsidies have been activitated in Japan, following the continued weakining of the Japanese yen. 

Japan has long-standing safety nets for the fishing sector, including fuel subsidies for capture fisheries and feed subsidies for aquaculture. The systems work on a matching-contribution system. In preparation for soaring fuel and compound feed prices, seafood companies and the government save funds at a

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Published on
November 30, 2022

Tokyo, Japan-based Maruha Nichiro has rebranded with the goal of increasing its public profile and encouraging consumption of its seafood products.

The company was established in 2007 when two separate companies – Maruha and Nichiro – merged. Nearly a decade after the merger, the company performed a public study that found public recognition of its brand was relatively low, Maruha Nichiro Corporate Branding Department

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Published on
November 25, 2022

The International Commission for Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT) wrapped up its 23rd special meeting with agreements on bluefin tuna and shark conservation.

At the meeting – held in a hybrid live and online format in Vale do Lobo, Portugal from 14 to 21 November – ICCAT member-states agreed to establish a management procedure for Atlantic bluefin and set a catch quota for the Southern Atlantic mako shark population.

A

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Published on
November 23, 2022

Thirty-three Marine Stewardship Council-certified tuna fisheries in the region managed by the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) may lose certification if the WCPFC fails to adopt management procedures at its upcoming 19th Regular Session, scheduled to take place in Da Nang, Vietnam from 28 November to 3 December, 2022.

The WCPFC is a regional fishery management organization (RFMO) that manages highly migratory fish

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Published on
November 23, 2022

Japan’s most famous crab restaurant chain, Osaka-based Kani Doraku Co., Ltd., celebrated the opening of the snow crab season in the Sea of Japan by offering a cup of crab-flavored ice cream for JPY 500 (USD 3.58, EUR 3.44) at its flagship store in the Dotonbori area of Osaka from 6 November.

The season for Matsuba Crab – a regional brand of snow crab from Tottori prefecture – began on 4 November. The ice cream is topped with a

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Published on
November 22, 2022

Japan’s major seafood companies are feeling both negative and positive effects from a weakening of the country's currency.

Japanese importers must pay more to purchase seafood and transportation, and are having a hard time passing on higher costs to consumers, as Japan’s wages have been flat for over two decades. However, profits repatriated from the United States look larger when reported in yen.

Examples of seafood items that

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Published on
November 17, 2022

Japan’s Fisheries Agency has established "Sakana Day," stretching from the third to the seventh day of every month, in an effort to promote seafood consumption.

The campaign kicked off in November with various sales at hundreds of participating retailers. In a press release, the Fisheries Agency said the campaign is meant to increase consumption of marine products amid a long-term downward consumption trend in Japan.

Japan’s

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Published on
November 16, 2022

Two Japanese fishing villages are calling on their prefectural government to consider measures to stop the fishing operations of Russian trawlers in the Nemuro Strait.

The mayors, town councilors, and heads of local fishery cooperatives of Rausu and Betsukai, based in the Nemuro sub-prefecture of Hokkaido, are asking the Hokkaido government and Japan's Fisheries Agency, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, and the Ministry

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Published on
November 15, 2022

The Tokyo Sustainable Seafood Summit (TSSS) 2022 was held 19 to 21 October, 2022, as a hybrid-live and online event. Hosting a variety of speakers and panelists, the event was sponsored by Nikkei BP and Seafood Legacy, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, and the Walton Family Foundation.

The event focused on human rights due diligence relating to seafood supply chains, providing an overview of efforts being undertaken by major market

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Published on
November 14, 2022

The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) is holding its annual meeting 14 to 21 November in a hybrid format, both virtually and in person in Vale do Lobo, Portugal.

In the run-up to the meeting, the International Pole and Line Foundation (IPNLF) and the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) separately published position statements, detailing their requests to the regional fishery management

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