Japan’s Fisheries Research and Education Organization (FRO) reported on 29 March its stock assessment for several migratory fish species for the period from April to September, based on contracted surveys and evaluations.
The FRO said that sardine stocks in the Tsushima warm current had decreased sharply in the 1990s and reached a historical low in the 2001-2003 period, but have been on an upward trend since 2004, especially since 2010. According to the Fisheries Information Service Center, the sardine catch for 2016 was 285,517 metric tons, 40 percent up from the year before.
The Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported on 31 March that the price of sardines at the Tsukiji wholesale market last year was the lowest in three years, and that for the port of Chochi, in Chiba Prefecture, the early landings indicate even bigger catches. In other major sardine ports in Ise Bay and in Mikawa Bay, near Mie Aichi Prefecture, the migration is also expected to exceed that of the previous year. The strong catches near Tokyo may drive the wholesale prices lower at Tsukiji.
Conversely, the run up the Japan Sea, on the west side of Japan, is expected to be lower than last year, though the total will still be in line with the five-year average.
Other estimates made by the FRO were:
- Horse mackerel will be unchanged from the previous year.
- Mackerel will be lower than the previous year.
- Blue mackerel will be will be unchanged from the previous year.
- Nationwide, sardines will be less than the previous year, but still almost the same as the five-year average.
- Round herring (Etrumeus teres) will be on par with the previous year, which exceeded the five-year average.
- Anchovy will be less than the five-year average.
