ISHINOMAKI, MIYAGI PREF. ¨C Tohoku¡¯s fishermen are beginning to challenge the traditional fisheries system by establishing their own companies so they can have more control over prices and other aspects of the business.
¡°Going back to the way it was before the 3/11 tsunami is not enough, because the amount of the debt and the size of the market is completely different,¡± said seaweed harvester Shota Abe, 27, who recently set up the fishing company Hamanto with 12 colleagues in the Jusanhama district. ¡°We have to create a new system that allows us fishermen to take more control of our products.¡±
The current system is controlled by the Fisheries Cooperative Association, a local entity that has a vested interest in fishing rights. Historically, the cooperative holds a joint sale to set prices, which depend heavily on middlemen, among other factors. Since the fish go through several middlemen before reaching consumers, the prices climb, eating into their profit.
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