FISH BRAND CREATIONS: PROGRESSIVE AQUACULTURAL APPROACHES THAT CONTRIBUTE TO REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Worldwide, the importance of aquaculture has increased, especially recently. In 2013, the total global fish consumption exceeded the total global beef consumption. The state of the global marine fish stocks has deteriorated; 30% of marine fish stock is overfished. However, the share of cultivated fish has been increasing, satisfying growing demands. In 2014, the global fishery capture and aquaculture production were 93.4 and 73.8 million tons, respectively. Because quality control is easier in cultivated fish than in wild fish, it is more feasible to establish fish brands with cultivated fish.

The state of the Japanese marine fish stocks is similar to the global situation. According to the FY2015 assessment by the Japanese ministry, 50% of the marine fish stocks are low and the importance of aquaculture has increased. However, the long economic depression and low prices on imported fish have driven domestic fish prices down, negatively affecting the Japanese aquaculture industry. Increasing prices through aquaculture fish branding and reducing production costs through proactive ingenuity are two promising solutions for this problem.

A promising initiative to increase fish price is fruit fish cultivation, in which fish is cultivated using food containing fruit flesh, juice, and skin, improving the flavor of the fish and preventing lipid degradation. Aquafarmers may utilize fruit residuals produced by other industries, such as fruit remnants after squeezing juice. In such cases, there may be cost reductions in both fruit and aquaculture industries.

A promising fish branding initiative to reduce production cost is inland puffer cultivation. Ocellate puffer, virtually the only cultivated puffer, is a marine fish; however, it is suitable for inland cultivation. Some aquafarmers use a pre-existing vacant pool, such as that of an abandoned school building, rather than building a new pool, for puffer cultivation, thereby reducing costs. Additionally, by using water with components that differ from those of seawater, aquafarmers can cultivate puffers with special flavor. In this way, aquafarmers can create novel fish brands, which may cause a rise in fish prices.

In this study, we examined influence of the abovementioned initiatives (i.e., fruit fish and inland puffer cultivation) on regional development, particularly cost reduction through using industrial wastes and unused facilities, and price rise through creating cultivated fish brands.