Arya News - Japan’s autumn salmon catch from Aug 1 to Sept 30 was down about 30% from the same period last year—the lowest since at least 1989.
TOKYO – Japan’s autumn salmon catch from Aug. 1 to Sept. 30 was down about 30% from the same period last year, and was the lowest since at least 1989. The resulting rise in the price of the fish and its roe is a source of great concern for fishmongers and restaurants.
“I’m wondering whether we should stock whole salmons, as they’re so expensive that there’s a big risk they remain unsold,” said the operator of Marumo Shoten, a shop that sells and distributes marine products in Taito Ward, Tokyo.
Since whole salmons from Hokkaido are a popular gift, the shop usually sells them at the storefront throughout winter. Yet, as the purchase price has soared by about 40%, the shop has been unable to take the plunge and buy them. The purchase price of domestic salmon roe has doubled from last year to ¥30,000 to ¥40,000 per kilogram, so the shop is currently selling salmon roe sourced from Russia.
According to the Japan Fisheries Research and Education Agency, the number of salmon caught in Japan from Aug. 1 to Sept. 30 – both coastal and river catches – was 2.39 million, about 32% down from last year’s figure of 3.53 million. About 130 tons of Hokkaido salmon was traded at Toyosu Market in Tokyo in September, about half the amount last year.
High sea temperatures are believed to be one cause for the decrease. The Hokkaido Research Organization’s Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Research Institute estimates the salmon catch in Hokkaido this season will be 3.64 million, about half last year’s figure of 6.86 million. The catch in Hokkaido typically makes up at least 90% of the nationwide total.
The impact is already spreading to restaurant menu items and osechi New Year’s dishes.
Nemuro Shokudo, a seafood restaurant in Setagaya Ward, Tokyo, uses salmon in some of its dishes and has started using Chilean salmon instead of Hokkaido salmon.
“This is the first time there has been such a shortfall in the supply [of Hokkaido salmon],” said Tokuharu Hirayama, the restaurant’s manager. “It’s a last resort, but we can’t help it.”
Major Tokyo department store Matsuya Ginza has raised the prices of some of its osechi boxes that will still contain domestic salmon roe but has switched to salmon roe sourced elsewhere in some other boxes.
“If the situation remains unchanged, it will be tough again next year and onward,” said Makoto Fujiwara of the research institute. “It’s necessary to take such measures as changing the timing of juvenile salmon releases into rivers next spring.”