Japan Reporting Series Archives

Can Japan sustain the rebound of its ‘phantom fish’?

by Katherine Rose | Oct 4, 2024 | Japan Reporting Series, Local News

While the rebound in Japanese herring is the result of government investment, management of the fisheries is largely unregulated -- except by the fishermen themselves. Is this sustainable? Many don't think so. Part 5 of "Phantom Fish: The return of Japan's vanished herring fishery." Read More

As Japan’s consumer tastes change, marketers hope to create the next hot herring product

by Katherine Rose | Oct 3, 2024 | Japan Reporting Series, Local News

While Japan's obsession with seafood may never change, it's tastes are evolving. Alaskan herring roe -- kazunoko -- is finding its way snack foods, and other non-traditional products. But there is strong competition from domestic herring, too. This is Part 4 of "Phantom Fish: The return of Japan's vanished herring industry." Read More

While local herring are more affordable and accessible in Japan, some still look to Alaska for eggs

by Katherine Rose | Oct 2, 2024 | Japan Reporting Series, Local News

Japanese consumers are readily adjusting to the improved size and quantity of domestically-produced herring. But Alaska herring has niche in sushi -- and an alluring wild "brand" that still sells. Part 3 of KCAW's "Phantom Fish: The return of Japan's vanished herring industry." Read More

Hatcheries are helping Japan’s herring industry rebound. What does that mean for Alaska?

by Katherine Rose | Oct 1, 2024 | Japan Reporting Series, Local News

Alaska’s lucrative herring fisheries were born in the 1950s, when Japan’s domestic herring industry all but died out. But Japanese herring are making a comeback now, thanks to a government-sponsored hatchery program that has rebuilt stocks, and most importantly, changed attitudes about hatchery-produced herring in a country that prizes its seafood above just about everything else. In part two of our series "Phantom Fish: The return of Japan’s vanished herring industry," KCAW’s Katherine Rose reports on how hatchery production in western Hokkaido has remade Japan’s herring industry. Read More

Where do Sitka’s herring go? The answer is complicated

by Katherine Rose | Sep 30, 2024 | Japan Reporting Series, Local News

KCAW's Katherine Rose travels to Japan this to learn firsthand about the market forces and cultural traditions that directly impact Alaska's commercial herring fisheries. This is Part 1 of KCAW's 5-part series "Phantom Fish: The return of Japan's vanished herring industry." Read More