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Can eco-friendly fish be big in Japan?

By Jill Marshall
Alvin's Guide To Good Business, BBC World News, Japan

A billion people depend on eating fish, while 200 million workers survive by catching it.

Cod stocks are in peril worldwide

But the oceans are under extreme pressure and many fear we are running out of fish.

The experience of the Grand Banks Cod Fishery, off the east coast of Canada, serves as a grim warning.

It had been landing tens of thousands of tonnes of cod every year for centuries.

But, in the early 1990s, one of the world's most abundant populations of the fish suddenly collapsed, leading to a total fishing moratorium.

"Forty thousand fishermen lost their livelihoods," says Rupert Howes, chief executive of the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC). "This was the wake-up call."

Overthe last 50 years, the amount of fish caught around the world has increased five times. We used to think the oceans were limitless: now we know this isn't true.

The MSC was established 10 years ago to help transform fishing. A partnership of businesses, scientists and environmentalists, it certifies seafood that has been caught in a sustainable way.

At the moment, 10% of seafood is certified by the MSC as sustainable. Now it is moving into one of the biggest and most challenging markets - Japan.

Market forces

Although Japan has just 2% of the world's population, it eats 10% of its fish. It's a national obsession.

SUSTAINABLE FISH

Fisheries certified by the MSC as sustainable: 63

MSC-certified or under assessment: 10% of seafood

MSC-certified products are available in 41 countries

MSC logo appears on 2,500