Fisheries Day

What Is Fisheries Day?

Every April 13th is "Fisheries Day" (水産デー, Suisan Dē) in Japan. On April 13, 1901, Japan's original Fisheries Law (旧漁業法, Kyū Gyogyōhō) was enacted — the legislation that set out the basic framework for Japanese fishing, including fishing rights (漁業権) over designated fishing grounds. The day was designated in 1933 by the Japan Fisheries Association (大日本水産会, Dai-Nippon Suisankai) to mark this anniversary and to promote public understanding of Japan's fisheries industry and fish-eating culture. The law was fully revised after the war, and the current Fisheries Law was enacted on March 13, 1949, a date known as "Fisheries Law Day" and sometimes also called Fisheries Day.

Japan as a Fishing Nation

Japan is one of the world's major fishing nations — a maritime country whose geography, culture, and cuisine have been shaped by the sea and its resources. Surrounded by the Pacific Ocean, the Sea of Japan, and the East China Sea, Japan has access to rich fishing grounds, where the meeting of the warm Kuroshio and cold Oyashio currents supports a great variety of marine life: more than 4,000 fish species are known from the waters around Japan. Japanese fisheries harvest tuna, salmon, mackerel, squid, crab, scallops, and many other species that are central to Japanese cuisine.

Toyosu and the Fisheries Trade

Japan's fisheries industry encompasses coastal fishing, offshore fishing, and distant-water fishing fleets. Tokyo's Toyosu Market (豊洲市場) — successor to the famous Tsukiji Fish Market — is one of the world's largest wholesale seafood markets, handling large volumes of seafood in the predawn hours and supplying sushi restaurants, supermarkets, and food manufacturers.

Sustainable Fisheries Challenges

Japan faces significant challenges in sustaining its fisheries. Many fish stocks around the world are under pressure from overfishing, and resource assessment and catch management have become essential. Japan has also been developing aquaculture as a complement to wild fisheries, producing oysters, sea bream, yellowtail, and other species. In 2002, Kindai University succeeded in the complete aquaculture of Pacific bluefin tuna — raising fish from eggs that were themselves spawned by farm-raised tuna.

Fun Facts

• The kanji for fish: The character 魚 (sakana/uo) is a pictograph depicting a fish's head, scales, and tail fin.
• Tuna auction: Toyosu Market's early morning tuna auctions, with their distinctive hand-signal bidding, are one of Tokyo's popular visitor experiences.
• Eco-label: The MSC "blue fish" label marks seafood caught through sustainable fishing, so choosing it at the store is one small way to help protect the ocean.