The increase in the availability of farmed bluefin tuna is having a visible impact on its price compared to bigeye tuna in Japan.
The price gap in Japan between bluefin and bigeye tuna is narrowing as the quantity of farmed bluefin increases, and that trend is also apparent in supply areas, according to Jerry Knecht, the founder and president of both Portland, Maine, U.S.A.-based North Atlantic, Inc. and P.T. Bali Seafood International, based in Kota Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia.
“Both yellowfin and bigeye prices are increasing in Indonesia – that means all of Southeast Asia,” Knecht said. “Wild-caught bluefin is soft to declining, which confirms that the farmed fish are impacting the market. There are only three bluefin licenses in Indo[nesia], which makes the limited supply very reactive to market conditions.”
While tuna farming that depended on wild juveniles has been going on for many years, closed-cycle breeding, pioneered by Kindai University (formerly Kinki University), is now being commercialized.
One company that has invested in bluefin aquaculture, Tokyo-based Maruha Nichiro, sold 300 metric tons (MT) of closed-cycle farmed tuna in fiscal year 2017. It plans to begin exporting farmed tuna to the Netherlands within 2018. A joint venture in Ehime Prefecture between Kyokuyo Suisan, based in Yaizu, Shizuoka Prefecture, and Feed One, based in Yokohama, is also planning bluefin exports to Europe.
Wholesale prices of bluefin tuna at the Tsukiji Wholesale Market on 20 September as reported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), averaged JPY 14,580 (USD 129.20, EUR 110) for fresh domestic product, and JPY 3,333 (USD 29.54, EUR 25.15) for frozen imported. Bigeye tuna averaged JPY 2,498 (USD 22.14, EUR 18.85) for fresh domestic and 2,241 (USD 19.86, EUR 16.91) for frozen imported. Yellowfin tuna averaged JPY 1,437 (USD 12.73, EUR 10.84) for fresh domestic and JPY 1,112 (USD 9.85, EUR 8.39) for frozen imported. Frozen imported southern bluefin tuna averaged JPY 1,814 (USD 16.08, EUR 13.69).
Another tuna market report, on the site of Tokyo-based fish trader, Chuogyorui Co., Ltd., also reports the country of origin: bluefin from Mexico, the U.S.A. and Canada; bigeye from Australia; yellowfin mainly from Japan.
Photo courtesy of Kindai University
