Message from Director General

Global fisheries and aquaculture production has roughly doubled over the past 30 years owing to an increasing demand for fish products all over the worldwide. In particular, aquaculture production has expanded rapidly in recent years, accounting for more than half of the total production. However, aquaculture production volume in Japan is only approximately 20% of the total domestic production volume. Considering global population growth and globalization in the aquaculture market, the aquaculture industry in Japan still has great potential. Moreover, fisheries in Japan are now facing a course of decline. Therefore, in the future, we must transform aquaculture into a profitable industry through stable growth and development.　

Against that background, nine fisheries-related research institutes were integrated and reorganized. Consequently, we had a fresh start as the Fisheries Technology Institute in July 2020 to efficiently promote research and development activities. Our institute has two research departments. The first department is the Aquaculture Research Department, which promotes research and development concerning aquaculture production, including production of artificial seed production, breeding, development of feeds, and disease control. The second department is the Environment and Fisheries Applied Techniques Research Department, which conducts research and development concerning fisheries engineering, coastal and inland water ecosystems, environmental conservation, and seafood safety and processing. The two departments cooperate in conducting research and developing aquaculture as a growth industry. In recent years, based on the MIDORI Strategy for Sustainable Food Systems, the two departments have engaged in the development of technologies that contribute to realizing decarbonization and the Sustainable Development Goals.

The Fisheries Technology Institute aims to contribute to the stable supply of aquaculture products and sustainable development of the aquaculture industry through research and development concerning the improvement of the profitability and sustainability of the aquaculture production systems.

 

 

Koichiro Gen 

Director General, Fisheries Technology Institute