餐桌上的人口老龄化

由于人口老龄化，年轻人和老年人对肉类的喜好不同，本是世界上人均鱼类消费量最大的国家，但2006年，日本餐桌上的肉类已超过海产品。

测试中可能遇到的词汇和知识：

Tuna 金枪鱼，鲔鱼['tjuːnə]

sashimi 生鱼片['sæʃɪmɪ]

capita 头数（尤指牲口）；总数['kæpɪtə]

stagnant 停滞的；不景气的['stægnənt]

commodity 货物；日用品[kə'mɒdɪtɪ]

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Japan’s tuna imports fall as young prefer steak to sushi （429words）

By Emiko Terazono

* * *

The Japanese are scaling back their raw tuna sashimi and sushi consumption as burgers and steak continue to gain popularity.

The country’s landings — the amount of fish imported and brought in by its own fishermen — of raw and frozen tuna fell 3 per cent last year, according to annual figures from the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation.

The Japanese fish sector has been plagued by the long-term trend of falling consumption as the younger generation opt for meat. The weaker yen has made imports costly and competition from cheaper salmon has also contributed to the fall in tuna imports.

“The descending trend of Japan’s sashimi tuna imports continue,” said the FAO in its latest Globefish report on seafood. Supplies of fresh and frozen tuna in Japan fell to 353,000 tonnes in 2015, from 362,800 tonnes a year before. Supplies of air-flown tuna from overseas plummeted 21 per cent.

“The Japanese are eating less fish as its population ages,” said Gorjan Nikolik, analyst at Rabobank. “The older generation were once the largest fish consumers in the world, but they are eating less, and the younger population prefer meat.”

Japan remains the leading consumer of fish per capita, but the amount of meat on dinner tables overtook that of seafood in 2006, according to data from the fisheries agency. Latest figures from the health ministry show that meat consumption per person is almost 30 per cent higher than seafood, while that of raw fish fell 5 per cent in 2014 compared with 2011.

The FAO report also showed that fish prices fell by almost a tenth in 2015 as prices in shrimp, salmon and tuna, the highest value seafood groups, declined.

Shrimp prices fell despite lower production, due to weakening demand in international markets, while Chilean salmon prices lost ground on fierce competition from Norway. Tuna hit six-year lows in 2015 due to a combination of falling demand, including that of canned products, and oversupply.

The stagnant demand for seafood affected overall trade values in 2015 due to the strong dollar and economic weakness in emerging markets. Seafood is the highest traded food commodity by value, and while volumes were up 0.5 per cent to 60m tonnes, the global fish trade fell 10 per cent to $140bn.

The continued impact of the food import ban in Russia affected the salmon market, while recession in Brazil and slowing growth in China led to “a significant weakening in global demand”, said the FAO.

“These three countries have become some of the most important seafood markets in the world,” it added.

请根据你所读到的文章内容，完成以下自测题目：

1. What kind of food fell 3 per cent last year by FAO?

a. raw and frozen tuna

b. raw and frozen salmon

c. shrimp

d. semi-finished tuna

2. Which one is not mentioned as the reason of the fall in tuna imports in Japan?

a. younger generation opt for meat

b. the weaker yen

c. pollution of the sea

d. competition from salmon

3. Which country is the leading consumer of fish per capita now?

a. Korea

b. Singapore

c. Portugal

d. Japan

4. Which country’s food import ban affected the salmon market as the FAO said?

a. China

b. Brazil

c. Russia

d. Japan

[1] 答案a. raw and frozen tuna

解释：去年，日本生的和冷冻的金枪鱼的上市量(进口和本国渔民打捞的金枪鱼数量)下降了3%。

[2] 答案c. pollution of the sea

解释：文章并没有提到海洋污染。

[3] 答案d. Japan

解释：渔业机构的数据显示，日本仍是世界上人均鱼类消费量最大的国家，但2006年，餐桌上的肉类已超过海产品。

[4] 答案c. Russia

解释：文章后两段提到，是俄罗斯政府实施的食品进口禁令。