Reflections from the Tokyo Sustainable Seafood Summit 2025, Osaka
Japan is world-renowned for its rich seafood culture and focus on premium quality fish and shellfish. But, as technology evolves and consumers demand more transparency on how it is procured, Japan faces a critical turning point. Today, being known for good quality is not enough. Retailers and consumers now ask deeper questions: where did the fish come from? What fishing methods were used? What steps were taken to reduce risks to people and the environment?
While traceability and transparent seafood markets are gaining momentum, a key issue is often overlooked – how fishing impacts vulnerable marine ecosystems (VMEs) in the deep sea. These deepwater biodiversity hotspots are teeming with life, including ancient, slow-growing corals and sponges. However, a single tow from a bottom trawler can quickly turn thriving ecosystems, built over thousands of years, into rubble.
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At this year’s Tokyo Sustainable Seafood Summit 2025 in Osaka, The Pew Charitable Trusts and the DSCC brought this issue to light, asking whether retailers may be unknowingly selling seafood sourced from these fragile ecosystems. On October 1, 2025, Pew and the DSCC co-hosted a side event, “Building a Clean Supply Chain,” which drew officials, NGOs, scientists, and retailers to discuss how market choices can shape ocean protection. The session emphasized the need to eliminate destructive fishing, human rights abuses, and untraceable products to keep seafood supply chains genuinely clean.
This side event brought together cross-sector specialists to explore this issue. Dr. Eunhee Kim, representing the Climate Ocean Research Institute (CORI), highlighted why safeguarding deep-sea areas from harmful fishing practices is critical, emphasizing that action to protect these ecosystems cannot wait. Pew’s Huw Thomas pointed out that more transparent markets could shift poorly governed seas toward better fishery management and Fenjie Chen, with the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), provided insights into how electronic monitoring systems, advancing through Northeast Asia, could support traceability and our understanding of where and how seafood is caught. Hiroko Sasaki, founder of Chefs for the Blue, demonstrated how chefs can connect consumers to ethical seafood using verified sourcing, while Ichikawa Sayuri from the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) explored the role of certification for seafood in Japan. Together, presentations and discussions painted a clear picture – when science, policy, business and consumers come together to advance and demand sustainable practices, real momentum and change can be achieved.
Dr. Kim captured the essence of the event’s key message: “Policy alone won’t save vulnerable deep-sea ecosystems. The market has unprecedented power to accelerate protection by demanding transparency and rewarding sustainable practices.”
Deep-sea habitats such as seamounts are vital lifelines for our ocean, supporting biodiversity and global ocean health. But destructive fishing methods like bottom trawling, which drag heavy nets and metal plates across the seafloor, can annihilate ancient ecosystems. Since many of these species grow only millimeters per year, recovery can take centuries – if it happens at all. The Emperor Seamount Chain, stretching from Hawai‘i toward Japan, is home to rare corals, sea anemones, and fish such as alfonsino. Historically targeted by fleets from Japan, Russia, and Korea, only one vessel now operates there. Yet seafood from these areas can still reach markets, often lacking clear labeling or origin information, concealing the damage behind the catch.
Japanese retailers and consumers hold real influence. By refusing to sell or purchase fish caught through destructive methods and insisting on full traceability, they can help protect deep-sea ecosystems and set a global standard for transparent, responsible seafood.