A big issue for Japan in recent years has been the new total allowable catch (TAC) on juvenile bluefin tuna – defined as those under 30 kilograms – which has proved difficult to manage, as bluefin acts as a choke species. Set net fishermen targeting yellowtail or mackerel cannot predict what they will catch and may unexpectedly have a large bycatch of bluefin. And if they exceed their quota, they may have to take up their nets for the season.
The TAC is allocated by prefecture, which then divvies it up among the fishery cooperatives. Further allocation to individual vessels may also occur, though it is sometimes held in common for the co-op. Since TAC is sometimes exceeded in a few prefectures while unused quota remains in others, there have been calls for pooling of TAC for juvenile bluefin among the different prefectures.
However, Yoshihiro Takekawa, who manages bluefin for the Fisheries Agency, said at a workshop on electronic vessel monitoring held 7 March that it is not practical to pool quotas because all of the fishery cooperatives want to hold their quota until December, as prices that may be JPY 1,000 (USD 8.99, EUR 8.01) per kilogram in October may rise to JPY 1,500 (USD 13.49, EUR 21.02) just prior to the new year.
The Tokyo workshop on electronic vessel monitoring, “New Resource Management Based on Data Innovation: Current State of the United States and Future Vision of Japan,” was co-sponsored by the Fisheries Agency, the Fisheries Research and Education Organization, and the U.S.-based non-governmental organization the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF).
At the end of March, fresh bluefin tuna from Nagasaki sold at the Tokyo’s Toyosu wholesale market at an average price of JPY 2,484 (USD 22.34, EUR 19.91) per kilogram. Domestic product from other areas sold between JPY 3,780 (USD 33.99, EUR 30.29) and 10,800 (USD 97.12, EUR 86.54). Nagasaki is a center for farmed bluefin in Japan, and the farmed product sells at a lower price than the domestic wild, though about the same as imports. Frozen bluefin, both imports and domestic, ranged from JPY 1,836 (USD 16.51, EUR 14.71) to 5,184 (USD 46.62, EUR 41.54) with an average price of JPY 3,262 (USD 29.33, EUR 26.14) per kg. Frozen southern bluefin sold at an average price of JPY 1,852 (USD 16.65, EUR 14.84) per kg.
Bigeye sold fresh at an average of JPY 2,970 (USD 26.71, EUR 23.80) for product from Chiba Prefecture (close to Tokyo and therefore likely the freshest). Other domestic bigeye averaged JPY 2,646 (USD 23.78, EUR 21.20), and imports averaged JPY 1,865 (USD 16.76, EUR 14.94). Frozen bigeye averaged JPY 1,085 (USD 9.75, EUR 8.69).
Yellowfin tuna sold fresh at an average price of JPY 1,539 (USD 13.83, EUR 12.33) and frozen at JPY 1,091 (USD 9.81, EUR 8.74).
