Fish stocks in Japan's territorial waters are declining. Data shows that the stocks of 48 percent Of 90 categories of shore fish caught off Japan in 2007 have declined. Many fishing villages have go belly up and lost of the majority of their residents.
The catch of yellowtail snapper off Toyama Prefecture in winner of 2009-2010 was only one tenth of the catch in a usual year. Yellowtail caught cold water are favored because of their high fat content. Warmer sea waters were partly blamed for the low catch.
Top 5 most caught fishes (millions of tons per year): 1) Alaska Pollack (4.5); 2) Japanese Pilchard (4); 3) Chilean Pilchard (3.25); 4) Atlantic Cod (2.25); 5) Chilean Jack Mackerel.
Of all the fish caught in the world. Only about three quarters are eaten by humans. The remainder are used to make things like glue, soap, pet food and fertilizer.
Surmami, a protein past that is processed into seafood products such as fake crab, is made from pollack, a fish caught in huge nets large enough to swallow the Statue of Liberty and processed in huge floating factor trawlers
In 2007, trawlers based in Kesennuma Port in Miyagi Prefecture caught 34,900 tons of saury, the forth largest amount ever netted by a Japanese fleet. Fishermen sold the fish for around 40 cents a kilogram.
Japan's Fishing Agency hopes to increase fish stocks by building 40-meter-high, 200-meter-long artificial underwater reefs from blocks made of coal ash and concrete to attract anchovies, horse mackerel.