If you buy Japanese soft plastics, spinnerbaits, jigs, sinkers, or other bass fishing tackle, you may have noticed a small “FECO” sticker on the package.

You may also see “FECO Certified” in some product descriptions on our website.

So, what exactly is FECO?

To explain it, we first need to introduce JB/NBC, Japan’s major bass tournament organizations.

NBC (Nippon Bass Club) is mainly for amateur competition, while JB (Japan Bass Pro Association) is for professional competition. They are operated by the same organization and have around 40 years of history with a nationwide tournament network.

Many Japanese tournament anglers who later competed in the United States also came through the JB/NBC system.

In the 1990s, Japan experienced an enormous bass fishing boom.

Fishing pressure increased dramatically, especially on Japan’s relatively small lakes and reservoirs. With so many anglers on the water, increasing amounts of soft plastics, fishing line, sinkers, and other tackle ended up on the lake bottom due to snags, break-offs, and other unavoidable situations.

In response, JB/NBC began asking tackle manufacturers to develop products with a lower environmental impact.

In 2001, the FECO tackle system was introduced into JB/NBC tournaments.

For tackle categories covered by FECO regulations, competitors must use FECO-certified products.

As of August 2026, 103 manufacturers have registered 2,522 FECO-certified items.

These include soft plastics, spinnerbaits, buzzbaits, blade jigs, rubber jigs, sinkers, jigheads, and other tackle. Hard plastic lures such as ordinary crankbaits and jerkbaits generally do not require FECO certification.

There is also an unexpected side effect.

In recent years, inexpensive copy products from neighboring countries have entered the Japanese market. Because non-certified products cannot be used in FECO-regulated categories in JB/NBC tournaments, the system has indirectly helped protect properly developed and registered products from Japanese tackle manufacturers.

So, does FECO matter to anglers outside Japan?

Basically...

No. 😅

But if you buy Japanese fishing tackle, you have probably seen this little sticker many times.

Now you know what it means.

JB / NBC
https://www.jbnbc.jp/

FECO Tackle List
https://www.jbnbc.jp/feco/