TOKYO: Saury is losing its status as a common presence on Japanese dining tables, as the country struggles with sluggish catches and consumption.
Catches of saury are mired in a prolonged slump with no signs of recovery in sight, and those that are caught are often lean and expensive.
Japan’s saury catches fell to roughly 18,000 tons in 2022, hitting a record low for the fourth straight year, before picking up slightly to around 25,000 tons last year.
Saury fishing in Japan usually begins in July or later, but Chinese and Taiwanese fishing ships often operate in high waters starting around June, raising concerns about less saury entering waters close to Japan.
The poor catches have led to declining consumption. Japanese households bought 235 grams of saury on average last year, about 10 pct of the level marked in 2009 when saury was abundant, according to an internal affairs ministry survey.
The survey means that Japanese households bought only about two saury in 2023 as saury traded on Tokyo’s Toyosu fish market chiefly weighed around 100 grams per fish last year, according to a wholesaler.
During times of plentiful catch, saury was readily available at retail stores for less than 100 yen per fish, attracting fans who would stock up and eat saury until they were sick of them.
But opportunities to purchase saury have decreased in recent years due to unstable catches, and retailers in Tokyo now sell them at around 200 yen to 300 yen even when they are in season in autumn. The cost of thawed saury, available year-round, is also on the rise. A Toyosu market worker said, “I didn’t eat saury last year.”
Large saury weighing 160 grams or more were rare on the Toyosu market last autumn. Even frozen saury are smaller and fewer. “I’m eager to see an increase in large, fatty saury,” a market worker said.
JIJI Press