Fishmongers check fresh fish at a market in Tokyo
© AFP/File Yoshikazu Tsuno KUJI, Japan (AFP) - Customers who have come to this market, some 100 kilometres (60 miles) northeast of Tokyo, cast a careful eye on the crates of fish and shellfish that have just landed.
Families nearby grill the scallops, octopus and sardines they have just bought from a wholesaler.
It is a picture of normality repeated in fish markets the length of the Japanese archipelago.
But under the surface, the country's giant fishing industry is sensing crisis as consumers tighten their purse strings amid a recession, and the soaring yen makes it tougher to export and to compete with imported fish.
"With the financial crisis, people no longer want to spend their money and prefer to keep it if they can," Yasuharu Akatsu, 42, one of the market wholesalers, said ruefully.
"Customers are no longer in a position to buy high-end produce like sea urchins or abalone," Akatsu said, referring to two sea delicacies for the Japanese who eat them raw as sashimi.
The fisherman said he saw the same downturn when he visited sushi restaurants.
"We're forced to sell mid-quality fish," reducing profits for the fishermen, he said.
As his fishing business employs around 30 people, Akatsu said he was "worried for the workers and my family."
Japan's stock market plunged in October, dropping briefly to its lowest level in 26 years on worries that the financial crisis will hit the exports of Japanese companies -- and, eventually, the livelihoods of ordinary workers.
Fishmongers cut tuna
© AFP/File Yoshikazu TsunoThe fishing industry was already feeling the pinch from soaring oil prices.
On July 15, some 200,000 fishing boats -- nearly all of Japan's fleet -- stayed docked in a one-day strike to draw public attention to the high cost of fuel for which the industry was paying dearly.
The government responded that month with an emergency 74.5-billion-yen (754 million-dollar) package to help producers by buying their goods, issuing low-interest loans and directly compensating some fishermen.
But the industry, which wields political influence in Japan, says that times remain tough.
"Fuel oil is still expensive," said Yasuko Imahashi, 46, who runs the Sumiyoshi-maru fishing boat with her husband.
Crude oil prices on global markets have fallen considerably amid the financial crisis on expectations of slower demand. But Imahashi said the lower prices have yet to trickle down to the fishing community here.
Now the big worry is the value of the Japanese yen, which jumped to a 13-year high against the US dollar recently as foreign exchange dealers caught fright and piled into the low-risk currency.
Japanese fishermen count on exports of high-end produce, which have benefited in recent years from a worldwide boom in Japanese cuisine.
But due to the rising yen, fishermen have reportedly been facing difficulties in their seasonal exports of saury -- a long, thin fish caught at night -- to Russia, Thailand and China.
Fishermen flying the Japanese flag caught 4.2 million tonnes of fish in 2006, making Japan the world's fourth biggest fishing country after China, Peru and the United States.
But the Japanese eat 10 million tonnes of fish and other seafood every year, meaning well over half of what winds up in their stomachs comes from overseas.
And as consumers rein in their spending and opt for cheaper imports, fishermen and their representatives, like Ryu Watanabe, 49, deputy director of a trade committee in Kuji port, worry that this proportion is set to rise.
"With the higher yen, imported fish is less expensive and so there's tougher competition for Japanese fishermen," he said.
©AFP