Japanese fish farmers are ready to help Taiwan after China banned Taiwanese grouper imports, the Sankei Shimbun reported yesterday.
The Chinese General Administration of Customs suspended imports of the fish on Monday last week, citing prohibited chemicals and excessive levels of oxytetracycline allegedly found in grouper imports since December last year.
Soichiro Hayashi, president of the Hayashi Trout Farm in Japan’s Fukushima Prefecture, is leading the push for Taiwanese grouper imports, the newspaper said.
Photo: Yang Chin-cheng, Taipei Times
His call has caught the attention of several large sushi chains, the report said.
Hayashi, who is the Fukushima branch head of the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association in Japan, is supportive of Taiwan and wants to return Taiwan’s kindness after it helped with relief efforts after the March 11, 2011, earthquake, the report said.
Fish from disaster-stricken areas were difficult to sell immediately after the earthquake, given fears of radiation after the meltdown at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, Hayashi told the Sankei Shimbun.
“The feeling of not being able to sell the fish that you work so hard to breed resonated with me,” he said.
Former minister of foreign affairs Mark Chen (陳唐山), who heads the Friends of Shinzo Abe Association, established this month, introduced Hayashi to fish farmers in Pingtung County, the newspaper said.
Hayashi plans to import two to three tonnes of grouper samples for restaurateurs, and hopes to send a group to Taiwan to inspect the farms’ conditions before importing larger quantities, it said.
Grouper fish is delicious and many Japanese would support Taiwan in this cause as it fights Chinese oppression, Hayashi told the newspaper, adding that the “democratic fish” could become a trend and add to demand.
Chen Chien-han (陳建翰), a fish farmer in Pingtung, yesterday said that he is grateful for Hayashi’s gesture.
“It is a cycle of kindness,” Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Cheng Yun-peng (鄭運鵬) said yesterday, adding that Japanese businesses are looking for opportunities to help Taiwan.
The Tokyo-based Taiwan Trade Center has contacted several aquatic product importers and traders to arrange a deal, director Raymond Chen (陳英顯) said.
The high price of grouper is its largest obstacle when exporting to Japan, given that Japanese have a wide variety of fish to choose from, Chen said, adding that imported fish is rarely seen in Japan apart from cod and salmon.
Meanwhile, Taiwan-Japan Relations Association Chairman Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) is planning to visit Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association Chairman Mitsuo Ohashi in Japan this week to exchange views on issues of mutual concern, sources with knowledge of the matter said.
Su is also scheduled to visit the Hayashi Trout Farm during his trip and attend events to promote Taiwanese grouper, they said.
Additional reporting by Lu Yi-hsuan
Tropical Storm Koinu is expected to come closest to Taiwan from Wednesday through Friday as it passes through the Bashi Channel, but it remained uncertain how it would affect the weather, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am yesterday, Koinu was about 1,000km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, and was moving northwest at 12kph, the CWA said. Koinu is likely to strengthen into a typhoon today or tomorrow and turn west as it enters the Bashi Channel to the south of Taiwan proper, CWA forecaster Chao Hung (趙竑) said. The storm’s trajectory is still unclear, so more time is
Taichung prosecutors yesterday indicted three people on charges of fraud for allegedly passing off watches assembled in Taiwan as Swiss-made timepieces and earning NT$400 million (US$12.4 million) in illicit gains. The Taichung branch office of the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau said in a statement that the group, headed by Mei Hua Precision Industry Co (梅華精密) and Laora Trading Co (仁徠貿易) manager Yang Hung-pin (楊鴻斌), had purchased the rights to use the Swiss trademark Ogival years ago and from November 2006 to December 2020 sold 26,282 counterfeit watches in department stores and online platforms in Taiwan. The branch office said they received
PALAU LAUNCHES: The source said that Taiwanese military personnel traveled to Palau, where a US brigade watched their work amid plans for a defense network The military last month participated in live-fire launches of MM-104F Patriot (PAC-3) missiles under US observation in an undisclosed location in Palau, a step forward in a US-led plan to create a joint defense missile system in the first island chain, a source said on condition of anonymity. The PAC-3 is the mainstay surface-to-air missile of the US, NATO and democratic nations in East Asia, the source said, adding that it has never been live-tested within Taiwan’s borders, the source said. The proximity of Taiwan to China and China’s close surveillance of the nation’s borders and nearby sea zones is a significant
TRAJECTORY: Koinu’s outer rim is expected to reach Orchid Island early tomorrow and Taitung at about noon, where waves of at least 6m are forecast A sea warning for Typhoon Koinu was issued at 11:30pm last night, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that a land warning could be issued today. High waves of about 2m were observed in Taitung yesterday, while waves of 6m or higher were forecast for today, said Huang Chia-mei (黃嘉美), head of the CWA’s Taitung Weather Station. At noon yesterday, Koinu was about 660km southeast of Taitung, she said, adding that it was moving more to the north and its center could possibly make landfall. The storm’s outer rim would likely reach Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) in the early hours tomorrow and
RSS