The Fisheries Agency is mulling budgetary measures and systems to encourage fishery operators to review catch targets and shift their focus to aquaculture in light of environmental changes engendered by rising water temperatures in the seas around the nation.
The nation's fish catch totals have declined. Hokkaido has registered the largest hauls in the past few years, in terms of pufferfish, which previously were caught mainly in the Seto Inland Sea and waters off western Japan.
According to an expert panel of the agency, water temperatures in the seas around Japan rose 1.24 C over the 100-year period to 2022, topping the global average of 0.6 C for the same period. The rise in seawater temperatures is believed to have had a significant impact on fish species that live near the water surface.
