Suffering of the saury base in Hokkaido February 25 19:27

Hokkaido is the largest fishing base in Japan. However, the once abundant marine products such as autumn salmon, saury and squid have fallen into an unprecedented slump, and the fishing industry has reached an unprecedented crisis. This time, reporters from various broadcasting stations in Hokkaido will collectively report on the scenes facing the crisis. The series tells the voice of the suffering site and the future.

The first time is saury. Not only in the fall season, but also as a frozen or processed product, they are lined up in supermarkets throughout the year, and are handy for everyday side dishes. However, severe fisheries have been occurring in recent years. The landing volume in Hokkaido, which is the largest in Japan, has been around 100,000 tons for a long time, but last year it was over 20,000 tons, one-sixth of the peak nine years ago. I'm in extreme fisheries. I followed up on how the saury landing base, the Kushiro / Nemuro district in eastern Hokkaido, is trying to cope. (Wataru Yoneda, Reporter at Nemuro Branch, Yusuke Tamura, Reporter at Kushiro Broadcasting Station)

Serious fishing, shaking the area

Nemuro, the largest landing base for saury in Japan. How do fishers perceive serious non-fishing recently?

Tsuruyuki Iisaku (77), a shipowner who has been fishing saury for more than half a century locally. Based on the port of Nemuro City, two large vessels such as large vessels are fishing for Pacific saury.

However, last year's sales were halved compared to five years ago due to unfishing. It is said that the deficit amount from the operation amounted to 130 million yen.

Mr. Iisaku said, "Sanma is so severe that we have to endure here. I hope we don't really get any more crisis."

The consequences of non-fishing are spreading not only to fishers but to the whole area.

When we interviewed a private credit research firm, Tokyo Shoko Research, we found that 10 fishery processors in the Kushiro and Nemuro regions, which had treated saury as their main product, had gone bankrupt in the last five years until last year. . The sales of 18 of Nemuro's major seafood processing companies have fallen by a total of about 20% over five years.

In such a situation, Mr. Iisaku said with a severe expression, "If the fishery declines as it is, the area will shrink rapidly and become useless. I think that is a fact that is unquestionable." Was.

Will saury not continue in the future?

How long will fishing for saury continue? I asked an expert.

Hiroshi Kuroda, a senior researcher at the Fisheries Research and Education Agency, who is familiar with the marine environment, said that "the severe situation for saury fishing will continue for some time to come."

Mr. Kuroda points out a unique phenomenon in which the Oyashio, which carries cold water off eastern Hokkaido, has not reached for three years. For this reason, the seawater temperature off the eastern part of Hokkaido has been higher than before, and it is said that the sea is hard to inhabit the Pacific saury.

Mr. Kuroda said, "It's probably a long-term change, so it won't change suddenly." Saury was severe for fishermen who could not get it.

Respond to fluctuations-increase added value-

The fishing industry in the region, which has traditionally relied on saury, is forced to respond to this situation.

Takao Hamaya, president of Nemuro's marine processing company Kaneyoshi, says that "adding added value" is key.

The company has increased the production of saury retort products about three years ago to produce profits from limited raw materials, seasoning them for preservative foods that can be eaten directly, and selling them mainly to retailers.

Until now, we have been freezing raw materials from the northern sea, where resources are abundant, and continuing our low-margin, multi-sales management style of mass shipment to the market. I'm trying to raise it.

President Hamaya said, "I think the current fisheries are the biggest pinch ever. I have to think about new things forever. I don't mean that I just have to go as before." Was.

Use fish that can respond to fluctuations

Some have resorted to fish that have rarely been treated as edible.

The Kushiro Plant of Maruha Nichiro Kita-Nippon, a major marine processing company in Kushiro, has found a way to live sardines in the eastern part of Hokkaido.

We started full-scale production of canned sardine five years ago, and now it is the main product that accounts for 40% of the total production.

Yasuo Shizuma, the factory manager, said, "We used to have more saury than before, but this year we are doubling the production of saury with sardines."

In December last year, a restaurant with sardine dishes as its main menu opened in Kushiro City.

The sardines are fast freshening, but the sardines cooked in the fresh and greasy sardines are expected to be a local taste comparable to saury, and customers expect it to be "more delicious than saury". It was popular.

The owner of this restaurant, "Kushiromaru," said Abe Hisashi, "I think many people don't know the true taste of sardines. I want to promote more sardines."

Respond to change-support the government-

In the absence of saury, the government is also working on how to protect the fishery processing industry, which is a key industry in the region.

The Fisheries Processing Promotion Center in Kushiro City devises a variety of menus utilizing sardines, with specialized staff making full use of over 70 processing machines.

This center provides the know-how of the developed menu to processors in the city free of charge. The aim is to have local companies sell products that are a substitute for saury.

Mr. Keiichi Narukawa said, `` Since fishing of saury and autumn salmon continues to be unfavorable, I think Kushiro will also flourish when it comes to a lot of new processed products using sardines. '' I was

One step at a time

Amid the ongoing critical landing situation, other measures have been taken to increase the income of depressed fishermen, such as conducting research on sockeye salmon cultivation in Nemuro City.

However, some fishermen say that it is impossible to make up for the profits gained by harvesting large quantities of fish offshore, such as saury.

Despite the difficult situation, many stakeholders were willing to talk about each response, and there were positive signs for the future.

We will continue to report on issues on the ground and the worries of fisheries-related personnel.

Kushiro Broadcasting Station Nemuro Branch Reporter Wataru Yoneda
Joined in 2016
After working for the Sapporo Bureau, he was in charge of the Northern Territory issue and fisheries.

Kushiro Broadcasting Station Reporter Yusuke Tamura
Joined in 2015
After working in Shizuoka bureau and Numazu bureau, in charge of incumbent economy and fisheries