Following last year’s efforts, we submitted a policy proposal to Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Shinjiro Koizumi and Fisheries Agency Director-General Ken Mori, aimed at supporting the recovery of marine resources and the preservation and transmission of food culture.
In addition to outlining key challenges and policy recommendations, the proposal also presented the results of a survey of approximately 1,300 culinary professionals, shedding light on the current state of seafood procurement in the restaurant industry.
Participating Chefs:
Sazenka — Tomoya Kawada
Quintessence — Shuzo Kishida
Nihonbashi Kakigaracho Sugita — Takaaki Sugita
Tenoshima — Ryohei Hayashi
Cenci — Ken Sakamoto
There is no doubt that Japan’s fish-eating culture is a globally admired and uniquely compelling cultural asset. However, in recent years, restaurants—long a driving force behind the development and preservation of this culture—have faced growing difficulties in securing stable supplies of seafood.
Japan’s fisheries and aquaculture production has fallen to less than one-third of its 1980s peak, and coastal fisheries output has declined by more than 60%. Meanwhile, the self-sufficiency rate for seafood stands at just 54% (FY2023, preliminary estimate), placing Japan’s seafood culture in a critical situation where even its continued preservation is at risk.
In response to this growing sense of urgency, and following last year’s efforts, we submitted a policy proposal to Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Shinjiro Koizumi and Fisheries Agency Director-General Ken Mori. The proposal calls for the recovery of marine resources essential to Japan’s food culture and food security, the establishment of sustainable fisheries, and the strengthening of domestic seafood supply capacity, representing a collective voice from the culinary community.
We had a face-to-face constructive discussion with Director-General Mori.
On the same day, we also held a press conference.
To Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Shinjiro Koizumi, each participating chef shared firsthand insights into changes in seafood procurement, growing concerns over supply stability, and a sense of urgency, along with requests to strengthen resource monitoring, research, and management as concrete steps toward improvement.
In response, Minister Koizumi offered a strong commitment, stating, “I will take your voices seriously, and as Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, I want to ensure that sufficient budget is allocated to resource surveys, stock assessments, and research.”