The wholesale price of frozen bigeye tuna blocks at Tsukiji in Tokyo has been rising. Indian Ocean bigeye was priced at about JPY 910 (USD 9.16, EUR 6) per kilogram (kg) in September, compared with just over JPY 800 (USD 7.70, EUR 5.60) per kg in March.
Frozen bigeye tuna blocks are the main tuna item used for sashimi, having taken the place of bluefin over the last few years. Bigeye has a brighter flesh and is sweeter than bluefin.
The price was likely to rise further in advance of holiday demand. So far the impact on retail prices at supermarkets is not noticeable, with prices remaining at JPY 298 (USD 3, EUR 2) to JPY 398 (USD 4, EUR 2.80) per 100 grams. The import volume from January to August declined 10 percent year-on-year, while the amount traded at Tsukiji decreased about 20 percent year-on-year in the month of September.
A major reason was that many Taiwanese tuna vessels took a break from fishing in the Indian Ocean. From the beginning of 2012, as international anti-piracy patrols increased, Taiwanese ships hired security guards and resumed fishing. Supply to Japan from the Indian Ocean then increased and the wholesale price of frozen bigeye declined in the fall and spring of 2013, with just a brief spike back to JPY 950 (USD 9, EUR 7) per kg in November in anticipation of holiday demand.
But now, with bigeye fetching lower prices and high fuel bills cutting into profits, many of the Taiwanese ships are taking a break. The weaker yen from the second half of last year means that the yen based price is even lower in dollar terms, lowering the potential profit for the Taiwanese ships.
There is also tight supply of fresh domestic bigeye, due to a poor catch in Japanese fishing grounds. Wholesale prices of fresh bigeye tuna have risen 30 percent year-on-year, to around JPY 3,000 (USD 30, EUR 21). Fresh domestic product sells much higher than imported frozen. The price in supermarkets of fresh domestic bigeye is JPY 700 (USD 7, EUR 5) to JPY 1,200 (USD 12, EUR 8) per 100 grams.
Bigeye tuna catches off the Japanese prefecture of Miyagi were reduced as high water temperatures delayed the annual migration. Japan’s major bigeye tuna ports are Shiogama in Miyagi prefecture and Choshi in Chiba prefecture. The migration usually passes these areas in September, but this year it has been late. While the catches have been increasing as of late October, they are still reported as being only half of usual for this time of year.
In addition to climate, overfishing in equatorial areas of the Western and Central Pacific is blamed for decreasing catches in Japan.
On 11 October, a scientific advisory committee of the U.S. Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council concluded a three-day meeting by scolding the Western and Central Pacific Fishery Commission (WCPFC) for its failure to prevent an increase in fleet capacity, fishing effort and catch of tropical tunas in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean.
The total 2012 tuna catch in the area, approximately 2.6 million metric tons (MT), was the highest on record and includes bigeye tuna. The maximum sustainable yield for bigeye in this area is estimated at 76,760 MT but last year 161,000 MT were landed.
