Japan’s imports of fish and fish preparations from Russia in 2022 rose to a new record value of JPY 155.2 billion (USD 1.14 billion, EUR 1.05 billion), up 12.9 percent from 2021, frustrating other nations, especially Canada, that have vowed to heavily limit or totally ban imports from the country following its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The previous record high value of seafood imports from Russia to Japan occurred in 2018, when Japan imported JPY 140.2 billion (USD 1.03 billion, EUR 950 million) worth of seafood. Imports by volume reached 124,437 metric tons that year, a 13.8 percent increase from 2017.
Japan's 2022 imports from Russia included 11,073 MT of snow crab, valued at JPY 32.6 billion (USD 240.1 million, EUR 221.3 million). Japan also imported nearly 21,000 MT of pollock eggs, the material for the Japanese foods “mentaiko” (spicy cod roe) and “tarako” (salted cod roe), valued at JPY 22.3 billion (USD 164.28 million, EUR 151.3 million). Other products with significant volumes included sockeye salmon, king crab, and sea urchin.
Canadian government officials warned Japan’s seafood imports help to fund Russia’s war effort. Yet Japan's Russian seafood imports are small in value in comparison to other commodities, such as fuel, which Japan heavily relies on. Seafood comprised 7.9 percent of Russian exports to Japan, while mineral fuels – mainly liquid natural gas and coal – accounted for 68.5 percent, according to Japanese customs data.
Politicians in Canada’s Maritime provinces urged Japan to instead buy Canadian snow crab, with plummeting prices prices meaning it's competitive with Russian product.
Canadian Member of Parliament Clifford Small, who acts as shadow minister for fisheries, has raised the issue in parliament.
“Traditionally, Japan would purchase about 40 percent of Canada’s snow crab,” Small, a Conservative Party member from the Coast of Bays–Central–Notre Dame district, said on 9 February. “Last year, it purchased a fraction of that and chose to dramatically increase its purchases from Russia, while inadvertently supporting the Russian war machine. While Japan, a G7 trading partner and ally, continues to purchase Russian crab, 30 percent of last year’s Atlantic Canadian snow crab sits in inventory. Another G7 partner, the United States, decided to ban Russian crab last June in an effort to defund the Russian war effort in Ukraine.”
Several Canadian officials said publicly they had raised the issue with the Japanese embassy, which responded by stating a decrease in Japan's snow crab imports is not the primary factor causing prices to drop. It provided its own data stating prior to the Ukraine-Russia war, 90 percent of Canada's snow crab exports went to the U.S., with just 4 percent ending up in Japan.
The huge delta between the embassy’s numbers and Small’s highlights the contradictory claims that both sides are publicizing about the percentage of Canada's snow crab that ends up Japan.
A 2019 report from the Canada Department of Fisheries and Oceans found that in 2018, the U.S. purchased CAD 833 million (USD 613 million, EUR 574 million), making it the top export destination for Canadian crab, amounting to 64 percent of Canada's overall earnings for snow crab exports. Japan, meanwhile, bought CAD 61 million (USD 44 million, EUR 42 million), or 5 percent of exports by value.
U.S. President Joe Biden ordered a ban on Russian seafood on 11 March, 2022, and it took effect on 25 March. Although a reduction in imports of Russian crab – along with a collapse of snow crab numbers in areas of Alaska – would seem to create a big opportunity for Canada, inflation has dampened American appetite for luxury foods. Canada’s exports of snow crab to the U.S. rose only 7 percent in the first three months of 2023.
In March 2022, Japan, following actions taken by other G7 nations, removed Russia’s “most-favored nation” (MFN) status, thus subjecting it to higher tariffs. However, the increases were not major. The duty on crab went from 4 percent to 6 percent, and the duty on salmon and trout rose from 3.5 percent to 5 percent.
With the U.S. ban on crab from Russia, Japan and South Korea promptly took advantage of Russian product suddenly available at low prices, leaving many distributors with stockpiles higher-priced inventory.
While Japan has implemented numerous political measures against Russia and Belarus, it has received the Biden adminitration's blessing to continue imports of natural gas and seafood from Russia due to its lack of domestic fuel sources and heavy dependence on seafood imports.
Photo courtesy of Russian Crab Company
