Eel Export to Japan from Taiwan, China

choi

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(1) Yang Su-min and Christie Chen, Taiwan's agricultural exports see large growth: COA. Central News Agency, Aug 23, 2011
http://focustaiwan.tw/ShowNews/WebNews_Detail.aspx?Type=aALL&ID=201108230033
("Eel [to Japan] and grouper [to China] exports, which saw the most significant growth rates, surged to US$115.48 million and US$70.3 million, respectively, by the end of July, up 27.3 percent and 87.5 percent from last year")

(2) The eel at issue is Japanese eel. See
Anguilla japonica. Fisheries and Aquaculture Department, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, undated.
http://www.fao.org/fishery/species/2988/en

(3) Agri-Food Trade Service: The Fish and Seafood Market in Japan. Business Sectors Bureau
and the Canadian Trade Commissioner Service, Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT, where D signifies Department), Canada, January 2007 (FaxLink #0800037)
http://www.ats.agr.gc.ca/asi/4345-eng.htm
("Japan is the world's largest consumer and importer of fish and seafood products. Imports accounted for about 45% or nearly $17.3 billion(1) of the total fish and seafood market in 2005. About half of Japan's total fishery product imports consist of shrimp, tuna and marlin, salmon and trout, crab, processed eels, cod and pollock roes, and processed shrimp.")

(4) Taiwan used to be the major eel supplier to Japan, but China has overtaken Taiwan since
(a) Eel Industry Fights Back. TheFishSite.com, Apr 20, 2009.
http://www.thefishsite.com/fishnews/9657/eel-industry-fights-back
(b) Lee W-C et al, The competitiveness of the eel aquaculture in Taiwan, Japan, and China. Aquaculture, 221: 115–124 (2003).
http://ntur.lib.ntu.edu.tw/bitstream/246246/161407/1/07.pdf
(Table 1 "Annual market shares of Taiwan, China, and Japan in the Japanese eel market" showed
* Taiwan eel export increased from 36,170 tons (45.11% of Japanese eel market) in 1985, to 58,850 tons (51.53%) in 1991, and declined ever since to 8765 tons (6.75%) in 1999;
* China explosive expansion from 2844 tons (3.55% of Japanese eel market) in 1985, to 95,255 tons (73.39%) in 1999; accompanied with
* Japanese indigenous eel farming from 41,094 tons (51.25%) in 1985, to 23,637 tons (18.21%) in 1999)

(5) But China's seafood export has hit a snag in US.
(a) Julie Schmit, Calum MacLeod, Elizabeth Weise and Barbara Hansen, Chinese Fish Crisis Shows Seafood Safety Challenges. USA Today, June 28, 2007.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2007-06-28-fish-cover-usat_N.htm

Quote:

"It [China] exported more than 1 billion pounds of seafood to the USA last year — more than any other nation, says researcher Urner Barry. About 18% of U.S. seafood imports come from China, the National Fisheries Institute says.

"China banned malachite green in 2002. Yet the violations indicate that it's still widely used in China's aquaculture industry, the FDA says. Even before Thursday's move by the FDA, the agency had restricted all eel from China unless the importer proves that it's safe. Last year, Canada also started testing every eel shipment from China for malachite green. Japan and South Korea have restricted Chinese eel imports in recent years as well.

Note:
(i) Changle  福建省福州市 长乐市
(ii) Mingguang  安徽省滁州市 明光市

(b) Safety of Chinese Imports: Statement of Murray M. Lumpkin, MD, Deputy Commissioner for International and Special Program, FDA, before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation. July 18 , 2007 (testimony).
http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Testimony/ucm110728.htm
("contamination of honey with [antibiotics fluoroquinolones")
(c) As recent as two months ago, FDA ordered summary disposal of China's seafood, if found at customs.

Detention Without Physical Examination of Aquacultured Catfish, Basa, Shrimp, Dace, and Eel from China- Presence of New Animal Drugs and/or Unsafe Food Additives. Food and Drug Administration, US Department of Health and Human Service (HHS), June 6, 2011 (Import Alert 16-131).
http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/cms_ia/importalert_33.html

Note:
(i) malachite green 孔雀綠
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malachite_green
(an organic compound; malachite green is traditionally used as a dye for materials such as silk, leather, and paper; Although called malachite green, the compound is not related to the mineral malachite [孔雀石; a copper carbonate mineral, with the formula Cu2CO3(OH)2]— the name just comes from the similarity of colour)
(ii) For gentian violet 龍膽紫, see crystal violet .結晶紫
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gentian_violet
(used in Gram's stain of bacteria; The name "gentian violet" was originally used for a mixture of methyl pararosaniline dyes (methyl violet) but is now often considered a synonym for crystal violet. The name refers to its colour, being like that of the petals of a gentian flower; it is not made from gentians 龍膽屬的植物 or from violets.)


(6) And in Japan, too.
(a) Keith Crane, China Resumes Eel Exports to Japan. SeafoodSource.com, Dec 1, 2008.  
http://www.seafoodsource.com/newsarticledetail.aspx?id=427
("China's eel exports to Japan slumped after the poisoned dumpling scandal in January this year")
(b) Catherine Zhang, China Eel Exports Decline. SeafoodSource.com, Apr 8, 2009.
http://www.seafoodsource.com/newsarticledetail.aspx?id=3092
("China's eel exports to Japan, its No. 1 eel importer, dropped by nearly 60,000 metric tons during the same four-year period")
(c) The drop was a lot, considering the latest statistics.

Tatsunobu Kawasaki, Live Eel Imports From Taiwan, China Seen to Total 10000 Tons. June 29, 2011
http://www.minato-tsukiji.com/news_detail_2660.html
(sentence 1: "Live eel import volume  for the current fiscal year (Sept 2010 to Aug 2011) is expected to total around 10,000 tons, down 25% from the previous year")

Note:
(i) It is written in the "About us" of the website's home page:

"Minato-Tsukiji.com is a web-based daily news service in English. And It is operated by 'the Minato Daily,' the largest daily newspaper in Japan specializing in fishery and seafood industries. The name is a combination of 'the Minato Daily' and 'Tsukiji,' the world's largest seafood wholesale market located in Tokyo."

(ii) Minato Shimbun
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minato_Shimbun
(みなと新聞; a Japanese language newspaper headquartered in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan 山口県 下関市)

minato 港 (n): "harbor, port"

(iii) Tsukiji
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsukiji
(築地; Literally meaning "reclaimed land")

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