Japanese Hatchery-based Stock Enhancement:
Lessons for the Chesapeake Bay Blue Crab

Japan's Fishing Cooperatives

photograph of a cooperative raising crabs

Japan's coastal fisheries are controlled by the Japanese Fishing Cooperative Association. This is a "bottom-up" hierarchical structure that preserves fishing rights and access for traditional family and fishing village units (Kalland 1984). Local fishing cooperatives are the "consumers" of released juvenile crabs, and their input is a principal determinant in prefectural decisions on production levels and release locations. In some instances, fishing cooperatives may levy dues on its members to construct and operate their own hatcheries for P. trituberculatus and other species. Fishing cooperatives operate wholesale markets through which all harvested crabs are sold and recorded; therefore, landings statistics are more accurate than records in the Chesapeake Bay and elsewhere, where markets are much more dispersed.

– David Secor