REFORMING WAKAME AQUACULTURE IN JAPAN WITH RELAXED PROCESSING STANDARDS: FROM CONSUMER AND PRODUCER VIEWPOINTS

This study investigated potential production reforms of wakame aquaculture in Japan through modification of processing standards. The research focused on the destemming process and examined both the consumers' and producers' perspectives. An auction experiment was conducted to measure consumer preferences for wakame with different destemming standards (1, 4, 7, and 10mm). It was found that, although consumer preferences were diverse, there was no preference between the present (1-mm) and 4-mm standards. In addition, a production experiment was used to measure the amount of labor that could be saved (and thereby the improvement in profit) by relaxing the standard from 1mm to 4mm. It was concluded that this new standard would increase productivity by 13.3% without affecting consumer demand, which will improve the structure of this industry for competition against cheaper foreign products.