Recorded unfished samma over 1300 yen per kilometer in August to record high on September 10 at 14:26
Last month, we found that the price of Samma's trade exceeded 1300 yen per kilogram due to record bad fishing, almost double the level of last year, the highest level ever.
According to the “Fishery Information Service Center” created by prefectures and fishermen's groups, the total catch of saury in the nation last month was 166 tons.
The catch in August exceeded 8800 tonnes for the adult, but fell sharply to 911 tonnes last year.
This year's 166 tons was 18% of the last year, the lowest ever.
The price of saury increased significantly due to the shortage, and the average price per kilogram traded at the major ports that landed exceeded 1,000 yen for the first time to 1343 yen while the record remained.
The price in August is 4.3 times that of two years ago and 1.9 times last year.
Every year, the price of saury is highest in August, when the season begins, and tends to decline after the catch increases in the fall.
Although future prices will depend on the amount of fish caught, the Fisheries Agency expects that the amount of saury coming to the waters around Japan from Hokkaido to Ibaraki will remain extremely low.
Regarding this cause, the Fisheries Agency has changed the habitat of the saury due to changes in the environment such as the flow of the Oyashio current south of the east side of Japan away from Japan, and the increase in sardines and mackerels that compete for food with the saury. Are listed.
Fresh fish stores that do not sell
Many koshino saury are small, and some fresh fish stores do not offer to handle them.
On the 10th in Tokyo, while prices were skyrocketing, such as stores selling saury for 780 yen or 980 yen each, there were also stores that waited for stocking.
At a large fish store, Uoya Shun, located in Nerima Ward, we usually purchase a large amount of saury at this time of the year, and last year when we were unfished, we sold from August, although the quantity was small, This means that many of the products are small and small, so we have not purchased them yet.
Hiroshi Watanabe, the store manager, said, “I want to eat saury if the autumn breeze blows. I want to sell because samma makes the sales area lively, but there is no big saury that can be seen by us. I feel lonely and I feel lonely."
A male customer who visited the store said, "I want to eat saury, but I bought mackerel. I want the saury to return to the old price of about 200 yen per fish."
A female customer said, "Since saury is autumn food, I want to eat it quickly. Because it's expensive, it's still out of reach at other stores."
Impact of unfishing Concern over next year
Due to the impact of saury's record unfishing, processing companies and restaurant chains that use frozen saury, etc. landed last year are being forced to respond unprecedentedly, and there is concern that they will be able to provide sufficient products from next year. There are also voices.
The long-established Tahara Canned Food Co., Ltd. in Choshi, Chiba Prefecture, which has been established for 92 years, is the main product of canned saury.
Over the past few years, we have been expanding our procurement sources to Taiwanese companies fishing off the coast of Japan about two years ago, because we have been unfished by saury.
However, the stock of frozen saury landed last year has decreased, and we are now taking a unique approach by limiting the number of products that can be produced to two of the five types of canned foods, which is kabayaki.
Also, products that use raw saury can no longer be produced.
President Yoshihisa Tahara said, “It has become more difficult to secure raw materials for a stable supply of products each year. Canned saury is a long-run product since its founding, so we can't stop it. We raised the price two years ago, so how much is the purchase price? Even higher, it is difficult to raise the price further.”
Regarding the future, “I am worried about what will happen next year due to the lack of fishing this year, so I have no choice but to secure it fully, including overseas markets. There is also concern that the price of saury will rise and consumers will be “away from saury” due to non-fishing. I am doing it."
When NHK interviewed a rotating sushi chain and other fisheries processing companies, many of them operate using frozen saury purchased by last year, but shipment of processed products as soon as stock runs out In addition to some companies that have stopped working, there has been a series of voices worried about anxiety about the supply of products since next year.