Pacific squid auction in Hokkaido fish market

Sharp fall in catches raises squid prices

JAPAN
Thursday, January 17, 2019, 01:50 (GMT + 9)

Wholesale prices for the Pacific flying squid have more than doubled for companies that process it into delicacies such as "shiokara" and cheap dried squid snacks, as the catches of this cephalopod have suffered a record decrease.

This situation is due to this resource´s scarcity in waters around Japan, also, prices of foreign squid products have also increased because of a global fall in the squid catch.

Researchers say it is difficult to secure a recovery in seafood resources, and a continued escalation in prices could continue.

In Hakodate, well-known as a "squid town," Pacific flying squid are normally caught from June through January the following year. But according to the Hakodate Fisheries Cooperative Association, this season as many as 90 percent of about 20 small squid fishing vessels have stayed in port since mid-October last year,reported The Mainichi.

Traditional japanese coastal fishing boat with jigging machines used in Hokkaido area

In 2017, the catch of Pacific flying squid was 61,000 tonnes, 13 percent less than the previous year, less than 30 percent of the squid catch from 10 years earlier.

In 2018 the situation was similar, with the pace falling below that of the previous year through the end of October. The average price of Pacific flying squid nationwide was once around JPY 200 (USD 1.84) per kilogram, but since 2016 it has risen to more than JPY 600 (USD 5.52).

Along with the worldwide decrease in the squid catch, experts claim overfishing by South Korean and Chinese boats, as well as illegal operations by North Korean vessels in Japan's exclusive economic zone in the Sea of Japan.

In Hakodate there are around 70 seafood processing companies, many of them small and medium-sized enterprises which are changing to fish products other than squid to stay afloat, according to the agency Kyodo News.

Some companies have been forced to use squid from other areas, such as Mikiya, which is using between 20 and 50 percent of short fin squid from Argentina as raw material.

Yasunori Sakurai, a professor emeritus of Hokkaido University who specializes in cephalopods, says in recent years incubations have not gone well in the East China Sea, which is a spawning ground for Pacific flying squid. Colder than average temperatures there mean that fewer eggs are surviving in winter.

"Because each year we see a drop in the resources of adult squids the poor catch looks like it will only continue," he said.

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