Click of the Day

There’s nothing like the taste of fresh fish, but precious few of us live near enough to a dock to be able to buy the morning catch for that evening’s dinner. A fishermen’s cooperative in a Tokyo suburb is making it easier for shoppers to do so by applying 21st century business acumen.

The Tokyo Bay fishermen launched a seafood e-commerce site that sells what’s been caught that morning. Fishermen snap photos of their catch while it’s still on the boat, and the images are posted, along with retail prices, before the boats return to the port.

Using the Internet allows the fishermen to sidestep fish brokers and the auction market process. Consumers who order before 9 a.m. can have the fish delivered to their home later that day; most items are delivered within 12 hours of being caught.

Fuud Corp., a Tokyo technology start-up specializing in solutions to support agricultural and fishery businesses, worked with the cooperative to develop the system.