The price of sardines in Japan fell in the last week of June 2018 due to heavy landings.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reported average wholesale fresh sardine prices at Tokyo’s Tsukiji Fish Market at the end of May at JPY 270 (USD 2.51, EUR 2.08). In the last week of June, they were at around JPY 320 (USD 2.89, EUR 2.47) per kg. This is about 10 percent cheaper than the five-year average for late June.
The domestic catch this year is about 30 percent higher than the average of the past five years at the same time of year, and the Nippon Keizai Shimbun reported that wholesale prices at auctions at the major ports of landing were 20 percent cheaper than the five-year average. Individual fish are mostly large, in the range of 120 to 160 grams each. At retail, medium sized fish of 90 to 100 grams are offered retail at JPY 80 to 100 (USD 0.72 to 0.90, EUR 0.61 to 0.77), as a special sale.
Sardines are a popular fish in the early summer in Japan. In the rainy monsoon season, sardines grow fat. This year, there is especially good fishing in Chiba Prefecture, which has the nation’s largest catch, and in Hokkaido.
Last year was also a good year for sardine landings. In 2017, 500,000 metric tons of sardines were landed – 30 percent more than the previous year, and four times that of five years ago.
The run of good landings is likely due to cyclical changes in seawater temperature called the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, which cycles over periods of 20 to 30 years, and resembles that of the Southern Pacific, which brings El Nino (the warmer temperature regime in the south). If so, it is likely to continue until 2020.
Japanese buyers are finding that most marine products other than sardines, including salmon, are fetching higher-than-usual prices. As a result, bargain-hunting consumers are migrating toward sardines as cost-conscious option.
