The Environmental, Economic, and Nutritional Concerns
Surrounding the Art of Sushi

Alexander Li Cohen
Japanese Civilization
December 3rd, 2001

     In the heart of America, traces of Japanese history and culture can be seen in various forms.  In St. Louis, the small torii in front of Stix International House and the Seiwa-en, the Japanese Garden at the Missouri Botanical Garden both take visitors briefly to another time and place; but the most common Japanese encounter that Americans partake in is the consumption of Japanese food.  Sushi as a culinary experience is both traditional and ever-changing, a blend of old Japanese culture and the innovations of the new Pacific Rim, to the introduction of table top sushi machines that can produce over 3000 pieces an hour (2).  From an ancient method for preserving fish, to a modern day delicacy enjoyed by millions, sushi remains to many Westerners the quintessential Japanese experience.  At what cost, though, does this delicacy come to our table and sushi bars?  What are the consequences, if any, of eating much raw fish? While sushi is very delicious and enjoyable, the art of sushi is closely related to many Pacific Rim environmental problems as well as economic issues facing the United States and nutritional and health concerns that face us all.

     Given the location of Japan as an island nation with a seemingly endless supply of fresh fish, and its limited arable land leading to the dominant production of rice crops, it is not so farfetched that the Japanese would come up with the idea of sushi, raw fish combined with seasoned rice.  The art of sushi can trace its roots back to Southeast Asia in the 4th century BCE (2).  Fresh, cleaned fish, usually freshwater carp, was first salted, then layered with rice and pressed under a heavy stone for several weeks.  A lighter cover then replaced the heavy stone, and the fish would last for several months in these conditions.  As the fish fermented, the rice was broken down and the lactic acid thus produced pickled the fish, allowing it to last for such a long time.  The modern use of vinegar rice in sushi probably goes back to the taste of the fermented fish after the months of fermentation though in the original form, only the fish was eaten and the rice discarded (1).  This type of sushi is still eaten today and is called nare-sushi.

    Somewhere around the 8th century CE, during the Heian period, this technique was introduced into Japan (2).  Since the Japanese preferred to eat rice together with their fish, they did not press the fish as long, and ate it while the fish was still slightly raw and the rice still had its own flavor.  Thus sushi became a style of eating instead of simply a method of preservation.  This style, called seisei-sushi, became popular during the late Muromachi period (2).  During the 17th century, Matsumoto Yoshiichi of Edo began the practice of combing sushi with rice vinegar (3).  This served to further cut down on the fermentation time, as well as complement the taste of the fish.  It was not until the 19th century, though, that the pickling process was left out completely, giving what we would consider modern sushi.

    In the 1820s, modern sushi was established when Yohei Hanaya began serving sushi without fermentation at all (3).  His dishes would be clearly recognized today, including sashimi, sliced fresh raw fish, on vinegar rice, and rolled sushi in thin layers of seaweed.  Yohei also served his sushi directly from a mobile food stall, the most common type of food vendor during the beginning of the 19th century (2).  This style of sushi developed into nigiri-sushi, or hand-formed sushi.  This is also known as edomae-sushi, as Edomae, “in front of Tokyo bay” was where the fish and seaweed were to be found.  After the Great Kanto earthquake in 1923, nigiri-sushi spread throughout Japan as the many chefs in Edo looked for new jobs elsewhere in the country; and it is this form that foreigners are most familiar with (2).  Another form developed from Yohei’s sushi, however, which can be found in Osaka in the Kansai region.  This style was influenced by Osaka’s strong connection with the rice trade, thus hako-sushi consists primarily of seasoned rice, mixed with different ingredients and pressed in wooden boxes into small edible pieces (4).

    After World War II and to the present day, the popularity of sushi has grown in America and around the Pacific Rim.  There are four major types of present-day sushi.  Nigiri-sushi, the hand-shaped variety of a bit of seafood on a small pad of vinegar rice is directly descended from Yohei’s style.  Oshi-sushi is sushi with rice and other ingredients pressed into shapes.  Maki-sushi is sushi rolled in nori, or dried pressed seaweed.  Finally, there is chirashi-sushi, or scattered sushi.  The preparation of these types of sushi is more an art form than a style of cooking, and to become an itamae-san, or master chef, once took ten years minimum of training and proven skill (3).

    The large consumption of sushi, both in Japan and in America, has lead to environmental concerns.  The usage of disposable chopsticks, and other misuses of tropical hardwoods alone, has become an international issue among conservationists (5, case #237).  David Swinbanks, in an article in Nature writes that "Japan gobbles up nearly half the world's tropical timber trade, much of the imports being wasted on disposable chopsticks (11,000 million pairs a year) and paneling for concrete" (6). Thus, even before taking a bite of sushi, the environment has already been impacted.

     More directly related to sushi production though, are many issues concerning the fishing and harvesting of the seafood used in sushi.  Tuna, for instance, is one of the most highly sought after sushi, with blue-fin tuna being sold at market for as much as a record-setting $83,500 (1).  The harvesting of Tuna in the Pacific Ocean, however, has long been known to be a source of dolphin mortality.  Tuna in this area are caught by the “purse-seining” technique, and this is the only economically efficient means of gathering tuna (5, case #129).  In this method, tuna, dolphins, and other sea creatures are encircled with long, mile long nets that form a “purse” around the fish when the cable attached to the net is gathered in, thus trapping all the fish inside.  This method drowns all fish caught inside and has inadvertently killed over 6 million dolphins in the years since purse seining has been introduced (5, case #129).  The different issues surrounding the capture of fish are not, however, limited to the Asian continent nor to the environmental realm.

     In the United States, salmon and roe herring were recently the topic of an economic/environmental debate as their geographic domain includes the Northern Pacific Ocean, and the inland rivers of the United States and Canada.  Most of the fish, however, are found in Canada’s territorial waters and Exclusive Economic Zones (5, case #59).  Canada allegedly violated the US-Canada Free Trade Agreement by prohibiting the exportation of certain species of unprocessed salmon and roe herring, saying that the export restrictions were to assist the conservation effort.  The United States countered by saying that Canada did not want to export the fish because they were trying to promote Canada’s export trade at the expense of foreign competition, counter to the establishment of the Free Trade Agreement (5, case #59).  The export of fish is a large portion of income in this region for both the United States and Canada; they both export to each other as well as largely to Japan.  Negotiations over the exportation of these fish have been unsuccessful for years and have even resulted in “an international mediator from New Zealand resigning in frustration” over the differences in views between Canada and the United States (5, case #59).

     Even shrimp, which is eaten in large quantity here in America, in sushi or otherwise, poses an environmental problem.  The harvesting of shrimp in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans causes over 150,000 sea turtles to drown in the shrimp trawl nets each year (5, case #61).  Trawl nets are over a mile long and trail behind the shrimp boats.  Since the mouths of these nets are quite large and the mesh of the net is very fine, slow moving turtles get caught up in the nets and drown along with the shrimp.  In the United States, laws have been passed that require countries that import shrimp into America to use Turtle Excluder Devices, basically a large cage-like structure that fits in the neck of the trawl net, allowing shrimp to pass through, but forcing turtles upwards through an escape hatch back into the open water (5, case #61).  Unfortunately, these laws were for a long time only being enforced for countries operating in the Caribbean and the western Atlantic Ocean, which only accounts for about ten percent of the world’s annual shrimp harvest.  Recently, the Earth Island Institute, an environmental organization based in San Francisco has filed suits with the Departments of State and Commerce to enforce these import laws on the major importers of shrimp into the United States, with Japan highly ranked among them.
 It is also important to realize that most sushi, being uncooked and freshly drawn from the environment, can be a health risk.  Raw, uncooked, fish that may have been improperly or inadequately cooked and handled may cause illnesses ranging from hepatitis A and viral intestinal disorders, to developing worms or other parasites (7).  As freezing fish will only kill mature parasites and worms, the only absolute way to prevent unwanted illnesses is to eat only vegetarian or fully cooked varieties of sushi, such as eel and shrimp, or rolls containing cooked fish, such as California rolls.  Another health concern is that pregnant women are more susceptible to foreign infection and should be wary of eating sushi in excess.

     Even with all of these possible risks, sushi is one of the most healthy and nutritious foods available.  Fish contain all nine of the essential amino acids that our bodies cannot produce to manufacture proteins.  They are also very low in fat and contain moderate to low levels of cholesterol.  Even shellfish, which has long been thought to contain large amounts of cholesterol, has been found to have much lower amounts and contains a large percentage of non-cholesterol sterols, which inhibit the absorption of cholesterol eaten at the same time.  Scientists in the 1980’s even found that eating seafood at least twice a week has preventive value in relation to coronary heart disease (8).

     Sushi has a long and venerable history, through which it has changed and been altered many times before becoming the delicacy we know today as a snack food to some and as an exotic dish to many.  There are many issues surrounding sushi production and consumption, but by knowing and understanding the various issues such as the health concerns, the environmental impacts, and the nutritional benefits, we can make informed and intelligent decisions about whether or not to eat sushi and how much of it to eat.
 

1: The International Gourmet:
http://international-gourmet.net/sushi/index.html

2: Sushi-Master, Tomoe Co., makers of Sushi Robotics:
http://sushi-master.com/usa/index1.html

3: Eatsushi.com:
http://www.eatsushi.com/front.asp

4: American University, History of Sushi:
http://www.american.edu/academic.depts/sis/sfpages/projects/sushi/sushi2.htm

5: American University’s Trade and Environment Database:
http://gurukul.ucc.american.edu/ted/ted.htm

6: Swinbanks, David.  Protests in Japan about Trade in Tropical Forest
Timber."  Nature, 336 (10 November 1988): 100.

7: Columbia University’s Health Question and Answer Internet Service:
http://www.goaskalice.columbia.edu/1464.html

8: University of Delaware, Sea Grant Program:
http://www.ocean.udel.edu/mas/seafood/nutritioninfo.html
http://www.ocean.udel.edu/mas/seafood/raw.html
 

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