Large hauls of horse mackerel in Japan's Nagasaki Prefecture in May, combined with low restaurant demand, have led to lower wholesale prices at Tokyo’s Toyosu Market.
The horse mackerel season typically begins in Nagasaki in mid-May and moves north during the summer with the Tsushima current, a warm current that flows northward through the Japan Sea along the west coast of Kyushu and Honshu.
In its April-September 2021 sea-state forecast for long-term fishing along the Tsushima warm-current system – which involves horse mackerel, mackerel, and sardines – Japan’s National Fisheries Research and Education Agency predicted the horse mackerel stock to be about the same as 2020. The agency said its prediction was based mainly on temperature, which influences recruitment, and current patterns, which carry the fish closer or farther from shore.
Likewise, chub mackerel, blue mackerel, sardines, and red-eye round herring (Etrumeus sadina) were expected to be about the same as the previous year. Anchovies were expected to be more plentiful than last year, but in line with the five-year average, according to the agency.
Nagasaki Prefecture boasts the largest catch of horse mackerel in Japan. A famous local brand that receives a premium in the market is "Gon-Aji," caught with set nets in the town of Goto-nada and highly evaluated for its high level of body fat.
This year has seen strong horse mackerel catches, but as both Tokyo and Osaka are under a state of emergency due to a resurgence of COVID-19 variants, restaurant demand has been weak. Restaurants there are required to close by 8 p.m. and are not allowed to serve alcohol in order to discourage people from socializing and chatting over drinks in crowded places. More prefectures were added to the state of emergency in the third week of May, and it was announced that the duration for the prefectures already declared will be extended.
On the other hand, supermarket demand remains steady by comparison, as people continue the “nesting” lifestyle of eating at home. Butterflied fresh horse mackerel is a popular item from grilling or for pan-frying.
Wholesale prices at Tokyo’s Toyosu market on Friday, 21 May, ranged from JPY 216 to JPY 432 (USD 1.98 to USD 3.96 , EUR 1.62 to EUR 3.24) per kilogram for the smallest specimens, while for all other sizes the range was fixed at JPY 324 to JPY 432 (USD 2.97 to USD 3.96, EUR 2.43 to EUR 3.24). Thus, the high-end for all sizes was fixed, reflecting poor demand on the medium-sized fish preferred in the restaurant trade.
A year ago on 21 May, the low-end on medium- to small-sized fish was JPY 270 (USD 2.47, EUR 2.02) and the high was JPY 432 (USD 3.96, EUR 3.24), while prices for medium-sized fish from Nagasaki ranged from JPY 540 to 648 (USD 4.95 to 5.94, EUR 4.05 to 4.86). The high-end was off by a third from a year ago.
The situation of poor restaurant demand and strong home-use demand has been carrying on for the last year in Japan, with high-end items like bluefin tuna hit especially hard.
Photo courtesy of JenJ_Payless/Shutterstock
