Research on sustainable development of fisheries and the marine product processing industry

•  Human resources (labor force) and management, processing, and distribution are focused on as essential elements for sustainable development.

•  Human resources (labor force) is focused on due to the background of a sharp decline in fishery workers and the reality of an “extreme population aging” situation. Because the marine product processing industry often exists in remote locations away from urban areas, securing young Japanese people has been a challenge.

•  As a result, dependence on foreign labor has progressed deeply and steadily at an “irreparable” level.

•  Uncertainty in the sustainable development of both the fishery and marine product processing industry is increasing.

This research aims to grasp the changes in the industry that continue to deliver seafood to our table. Thus, by focusing on the Japanese fishery, which is in danger of the “loss of human resources,” it aims to analyze the current situation of industrial sites and elucidate the wide range of labor problems involved. Specifically, we focused on the Indonesian fishing sailors who work on Japanese fishing boats. We defined them as “diaspora on board” and studied the people in “this group,” whose existence and the type of work they do for whom have been kept away from the public’s eyes. This research began by setting the unknown reality at the root of the problems the Japanese fishery has.

　The results of the analysis have depicted that the technical intern training system in the fishing-boat fishery strives to improve living conditions by working on a foreign fishing boat, sucks up young Indonesians who entrusted their dreams to fishery education institutions, and encourages them to work onboard Japanese fishing boats 〔“Changes in industrial structure and foreign workers”〕.

　In addition, it is immeasurable for those who decide to spend their lives in the fishery to continue to share time, space, and danger on a narrow ship on the rough seas, where they may lose their lives. Thus, it was noted that they are becoming more irreplaceable as they build a high degree of expertise.