Gaia Series 29: Confronting Global Warming

This week, we focus on how companies and individuals in the seafood industry and agricultural sector are tackling the challenges posed by global warming. The first is Kakujo Gyorui, which operates more than 20 fish shops around Japan. It sells a variety of fish such as Pacific saury, skipjack tuna, mackerel, young amberjack, pilchard, salmon and barracuda. Company president Hironobu Yagishita has been very concerned over changes in the types and volume of fish being caught due to changing sea temperatures. For example, warmer waters in the northern seas have affected the catch of salmon.

Kakujo Gyorui was founded in 1974. Its headquarters are in Saitama City, while its main branch is located in Teradomari, Niigata, a historical port town facing the Japan Sea. It has more than 1,000 staff with annual net sales of 40.8 billion yen. The company employs 12 buyers, split between the markets in Niigata and Toyosu. The company’s top buyer is Motoaki Yagishita. Its busiest branch is the Kodaira one in Higashikurume, Tokyo. On busy days, the store attracts up to 10,000 customers.

There have been big changes in the growth patterns of fish and where they are found. The fish affected include salmon, sandfish, deepsea bonefish and cod. This has led to a fall in the variety of fish Kakujo Gyorui can offer. To address the challenges posed by changing fish patterns, Kakujo Gyorui adopted a proactive approach. It responded quickly to changes in sea conditions. In order to find stable sources of quality fish, it did not simply rely on markets in Niigata and Toyosu. It thus tried to develop new fishing grounds and areas from where to catch fish. Another buyer, Toru Arima, has successfully developed new fishing grounds in Kyoto, Hyogo, Shizuoka and Kanagawa. Examples are procuring Pacific bluefin tuna from Ine in Kyoto and cutlass fish from Awaji Island in Hyogo.

Monbetsu City, Hokkaido has seen its haul of salmon fall by more than 30 per cent in 2023 compared to 2022, due to the rise in sea temperatures. So veteran buyer Toshimitsu Nakagoshi, who has more than 30 years of experience, turned his attention to amberjack. It is more affordable compared to salmon, but Mr Nakagoshi had difficulty securing a large volume of amberjack. So he decided to explore further north in the town of Erimo in Hokkaido. He managed to purchase 100 amberjacks from a local intermediate wholesaler. He then headed to Kushiro Port in Hokkaido. It boasts some of the highest hauls of fish compared to other ports in Japan. Here, he bought 20 boxes of flathead flounders which caught his eye. Meanwhile, buyer Mr Arima also visited Ofunato Port in Iwate and managed to get saury, which the company previously procured from Nemuro. 

Besides seafood, global warming is also affecting agricultural produce. Yuasa-cho in Wakayama Prefecture is known for its special Arida mandarin oranges and the region produces the most mandarin oranges in Japan. Due to global warming, the oranges are scorched by the sun and turn white due to a lack of water. The heat also results in the oranges experiencing “skin puffing”. A mandarin orange farmer, Tomoaki Yukawa, discovered a special mandarin orange which does not get affected by the heat and subsequently called the oranges “Mr Green”. Mr Yukawa then applied to register "Mr Green" as a unique variety.

Meanwhile, in Gobo City, Wakayama, another farmer, Kazuhiko Inoue, grows fruits such as bananas, mangoes, lychees and starfruit. His favourite is atemoya, which is also called custard apple. In Japan, it is a luxury product primarily grown in Okinawa and can cost 1,000 yen in speciality fruit shops. Mr Inoue previously used to grow flowers but decided to leverage global warming to cultivate such tropical fruits, saving on heating costs. As not many people in Japan are aware of atemoya, he got the fruit analysed at the Wakayama National Institute of Technology. It was then discovered that atemoya has many beneficial properties such as high levels of polyphenols.

Mr Inoue used this information to sell the fruit at the Ota Market Yacchabakuraji. He approached wholesaler Yosuke Kurakata, who stocks famous regional fruits from all over Japan. After seeing the analysis report of atemoya, he agrees to try to sell the fruit to luxury supermarkets.

Another farmer in Kozagawa Town, Wakayama, also grows rare fruit. Norio Uehira has been cultivating tropical fruit for 10 years. He grows Brazilian grapes, which grow on tree trunks. They are commonly grown in regions like Brazil and are rarely found in Japan. Their unique traits are the skin's popping texture and the insides are extremely sweet. However, Brazilian grapes ripen and spoil very quickly. This is one reason they are not found in Japanese markets. But Mr Uehira decided to put them to good use and produce Brazilian grape jam instead. 

Tips:

1)    Diversifying sources beyond traditional markets has helped Kakujo Gyorui cope with reduced hauls of fish
2)    Scientific analysis of produce can help to highlight their unique properties and market them better