Though imports account for most Japanese consumption of raw salmon, domestic production of farmed salmon and trout is growing. Prices of Japanese salmon are still a little higher than imports of the fish, but demand for domestic is increasing, due to high prices in Norway and a weaker yen.
The historical prices chart for the NASDAQ Salmon Index – a weighted average of weekly reported sales prices and volumes of fresh Atlantic superior salmon, head-on gutted, that is reported to Nasdaq Commodities by a panel of Norwegian salmon exporters and salmon producers – shows at over NOK 78 (USD 9.5, EUR 8.1) from the 19th to the 21st week of the year (around early to late May) for the middle to higher weight ranges (three to four kilograms up to nine kilograms).
The peak harvest for Japanese producers is in May and June, so the timing of this spike worked much to their benefit. At the same time, the yen has weakened against the U.S. dollar, making imports more expensive.
Miyagi Prefecture in northeast Honshu Island is the main production area, and silver salmon (coho) is the main species. According to the Nippon Keizai Shimbun, the local wholesale price in late June was JPY 630 (USD 5.68, EUR 4.85) per kg, 10 percent cheaper than the same period last year. Water temperatures have been favorable and local branding has increased demand, leading to an eightfold increase in production volume compared with before the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011. Aomori Prefecture, in the northeast of Honshu, is another leading production area.
A surprising success in salmon farming is Kagawa Prefecture, where "Sanuki Salmon" is farmed in the Seto Inland Sea by the Kagawa Prefecture Fishery Cooperative Association. Sanuki was the name of the region in ancient times. Deputy Manager Kenichi Oyamaya said that rainbow trout are farmed in the ocean for an early harvest in May, since the water temperatures in this relatively southern location becomes too warm to raise salmon in the summer. A vivid orange color is achieved by adding astaxanthin to the feed.
