INACTIVE Japan Hiroshima Pacific oyster - rope grown

The unique topography, tidal currents and water temperatures in the marine areas of Hiroshima Prefecture make it an ideal location for oyster farming and fishing. The region accounts for two thirds of Japan’s oyster production, or 20,000 tonnes annually, some of which supplies the Japanese Consumers' Co-operative Union (JCCU), Japan’s largest consumer organization comprised of 29 million members. Since the oyster fisheries’ establishment in 1962, those involved in the oyster fisheries have always focused on quality and safety, but oyster companies now also want to ensure their oysters are produced and seen as eco-friendly.

The Hiroshima Pacific Oyster FIP will work to ensure environmental sustainability of participating FIP companies. Towards this goal, the FIP fishing companies worked with Seafood Legacy and Ocean Outcomes in 2019 to assess their environmental impacts on the marine environment and then developed a workplan to mitigate those impacts going forward. These include monitoring fishery impacts on benthic habitats; decreasing fishery interactions with endangered species, such as loggerhead turtles and the Indo-Pacific finless porpoise; transitioning fishery management to precautionary and science-based strategies; and routine project participant progress meetings.