ABSTRACT
Based on fieldwork in the prefecture of Saga in Northern Kyushu, this contribution explores the struggles of small family fishing businesses and cooperatives dealing with global and national transformations since the 1980s. The emergence of buyer-driven global commodity chains in seafood, the proliferation of large supermarket chains and a re-orientation of consumer preferences constitute a profound shift in the seafood business in Japan. Growing resource problems, high input costs and stagnating fish prices contribute to the declining profitability of local coastal fisheries. Consequently, the number of fishers is in free fall and most fishers are close to or far beyond usual retirement age. In-depth case studies in small fishing villages include two family fishing businesses, a newly merged fishery cooperative as well as an NPO looking for new sales channels for local small-scale fishers. Drawing on research on rural experiences of globalization as well as critical analyses of development, growth and sustainability discourses, this contribution argues that a qualitative reforming of fishery cooperatives, marketing and resource management rather than mere rationalization, competitive revitalization programs and market-based fishing rights reform is needed to halt socioeconomic decline in Japanese coastal fisheries without promoting ecologically detrimental growth.
