The 8th Annual Norway-Japan Seafood Seminar
Hotel New Otani
Tokyo, Japan
28 May 2010
“Shared Seafood Pride and Interest”
It is a pleasure and honour for me to have the opportunity to make some opening remarks at this 8th Annual Norway-Japan Seafood Seminar. This is the second time for me to attend this important annual event in the relationship between our two countries. Last year, just a month after my arrival to Japan as Norway’s new Ambassador, I accompanied our Deputy Minister of Fisheries Mr. Ulriksen to the annual seminar and was delighted to meet with so many of you then. Let me thank President Shirasu and the Japan Fisheries Association for their co-operation in organizing our annual Norway-Japan event this year as in years past.
Last year, our annual seminar focused on seafood safety. This year, our focus is on consumption trends. Seafood safety and consumption are, of course, interlinked.
The Deputy Minister’s visit to Japan last year was important also in another sense. It was also a celebration of the return of the high quality Norwegian “shishamo” (capelin) to the Japanese market. We are keen to manage our living marine resources in a responsible and sustainable way. And we thus had to stop our exports a few years to enable the stocks of Norwegian “shishamo”, which had sunk low, to replenish. And once replenished, our choice female “shishamo” with roe were happy to be caught again and sent on a one-way ticket to be eaten and enjoyed by the Japanese consumer, the most quality conscious seafood consumer in the world, not least on happy occasions at your local “izakayas”.
Returning to Japan, the Norwegian Arctic “shishamo” were in for a little surprise. I myself enjoyed eating them so much that “shishamo” is now always on the menu when I host dinners and receptions in my official Embassy residence. To the delight not only of my Japanese guests, but also to that of visiting Norwegians, many of whom not only are eating “shishamo” Japanese style for the first time, but also want to continue eating this seafood delight upon return to Norway.
I like to call “Shishamo” the darling little “Princess of the Sea”. Because, in Norway, we call our high quality salmon the “King of Fish” and we pride ourselves in supplying the Japanese consumer with the best Royal Norwegian salmon that we can offer. You will understand how happy I was to read in the newspaper a couple of days ago that salmon is now the most-eaten fish in Japan. And that you prefer eating it raw as “sashimi”. So do I.
Seafood is, indeed, something very special that uniquely ties Norway and Japan close together. Bordering the sea, Norwegians and Japanese have great tradition in catching fish and eating fish. We eat a lot of seafood in Norway. So much, in fact, that I am totally impressed by the Japanese consumer eating on average three times as much as we do.
Japan is, indeed, one of the world’s largest seafood markets. Norway one of the world’s largest seafood exporters. Our exports of high quality seafood to Japan are important to our economy and bilateral trading relations. That we have a shared interest in Seafood Safety, and something to contribute to wider international co-operation in this field, was highlighted at last year’s annual Seminar.
Norway and Japan are rightly proud of our nations’ maritime past, we happily enjoy the present and we are seriously concerned about the future, recognizing the importance of sustainable management of living marine resources.
This morning, I have a very special invitation for you all. And that is to watch television this coming Sunday evening at nine o-clock. BS Fuji-TV’s programme “Table of Embassy” dedicated to Norway. You will get a close up view of Norway’s seafood culture, our welfare society and how we celebrated our National Day with seafood on the table here in Tokyo two weeks ago.
You will be happy see your good friend, Embassy Counsellor Hans Petter Næs, the Head of the Norwegian Seafood Export Council here in Japan, on the programme at Tsukiji early in the morning selecting choice Norwegian fish for dinner. What is more, the programme will show in great detail how that fish is prepared in my Embassy kitchen Norwegian style and you will watch it eaten at my dinner table. Enjoyed not only by my wife and myself with the TV reporter, but also by two very special guests. Miss Universe Japan for 2009 and Miss Universe Japan for 2010. They had just returned from a trip to Norway and are now very good Ambassadors for Norway and Norwegian seafood in Japan. I am sure you all will agree with the nutritionists who say that eating Norwegian seafood regularly will make them even more beautiful and successful.
This TV programme is part of the Embassy’s on-going, everyday work to promote Norwegian seafood in Japan. I hope that this promotion will be of benefit also to the many people attending our Seminar today, who are engaged in various aspects of marketing Norwegian seafood here in Japan.
Ladies and Gentlemen, let me with these opening words wish you another successful Norway-Japan Seafood Seminar for professional updating and useful exchanges of views and information.
And welcome to the reception that I will host in a couple of hours from now, where we can continue discussions and very importantly enjoy eating seafood delicacies together while we renew old friendships and establish new ones.