At the height of the Somali piracy crisis, with twenty navies patrolling the coast, Kiyoshi Kimura, a Tokyo restaurant owner and head of Kiyomura Corporation, provided four fishing boats and promised to buy whatever was caught. This intervention coincided with a significant decline in piracy incidents.
In 2011, Somali pirates attacked 237 ships, operating from motherships in the Indian Ocean, boarding vessels and holding sailors hostage for ransom. The issue gained international attention following the 2009 hijacking of the Maersk Alabama, which involved the rescue of American captain Richard Phillips by Navy SEALs.
By 2011, multiple naval forces from countries including the United States, European Union, NATO, China, India, and Russia were patrolling the Gulf of Aden, and shipping companies began employing armed guards. Despite these measures, piracy continued, with Somali pirates taking more hostages than ever before.
Kimura, known as the Tuna King for purchasing the most expensive fish at Tokyo's first auction each year, turned his attention to Somalia due to the rich yellowfin tuna grounds off its coast. For two decades, foreign trawlers had depleted these waters, leaving local fishermen without livelihoods. Many of these fishermen reportedly turned to piracy as a means of survival.
In 2012, Kimura traveled to Somalia to meet with former pirates, seeking to understand their motivations. He concluded that they were not inherently inclined to piracy but were driven by the need to support their families amid a collapsed fishing industry. He provided fishing boats, trained crews, established freezer capacity onshore, and committed to buying their catch at a stable price.
By 2015, successful Somali hijackings had ceased entirely. The International Maritime Bureau attributes the decline in piracy to international naval efforts, vessel hardening, and the influence of Somalia's central government, but Kimura's contributions are not recognized in these accounts.
While Kimura's program may not have been a comprehensive solution, it addressed some of the underlying issues faced by Somali fishermen. The narrative surrounding his efforts has been simplified in popular discourse, often attributing the end of piracy solely to him, which he has not claimed.
Kimura's public persona as a sushi chef who spends large sums on fish for publicity also plays a role in how his story is perceived. His actions in Somalia can be seen as a unique approach to a complex problem that traditional naval responses failed to resolve. The decline in piracy likely resulted from a combination of factors, including both naval interventions and Kimura's fishing initiative.