Salmon farmers in Japan’s Miyagi Prefecture are reaping a windfall as prices soar.
At the start of Japan’s farmed salmon harvest, on 24 March, 3 metric tons (MT) of coho averaging 1.2 kilograms (kg) each were landed at the Ishinomaki fish market in Miyagi Prefecture and fetched JPY 1,200 (USD 11.82, EUR 8.78) per kg, or half again the level for the first landing of 2013.
The early season prices are strongest, as the initial volumes are light. Harvesting peaks in June and continues through July. Now, even as the end of the season nears, the average unit price for farmed Miyagi coho is JPY 603 (USD 5.94, EUR 4.41) per kg, 49.5 percent up from this time last year. The higher material costs cannot be entirely passed on to shops and consumers, so processors who will feel the price squeeze the most.
Production has also increased, as aquaculture in the region recovers following the 2011 disaster. The quantity produced in the prefecture through 20 July was 3,363 MT, up 7.7 percent from the same time last year. There has been a 61.2 percent increase in sales (reflecting both the higher price and volumes) to JPY 2.02 billion (USD 20 million, EUR 14.7 million), according to JF (Japan Fisheries Cooperatives) Miyagi.
Japan’s total domestic farmed coho output for 2014 is expected to be 12,000 MT, while it was 15,700 in 2011, the year of the disaster. The farmed harvest will wrap up shortly before the season for wild silvers opens in September. Catches average around 30,000 MT and the season runs through November.
The reason for the strong demand for Miyagi coho is a reduction in Chilean production of coho and ocean-farmed rainbow trout.
Chile’s coho harvest was down 30.7 percent to 44,900 MT in the first three months of the year because a glut and price collapse during the 2012-2013 season led to lighter stocking.
Japan is the main market for both coho and trout. Prices at the start of June were at JPY 855 (USD 8.42, EUR 6.26) per kg up from JPY 615 (USD 6.06, EUR 4.50) per kg (in November of 2013 and JPY 715 (USD 7.04, EUR 5.23) in January 2014. As the prices have risen, sales volumes have fallen, raising concerns that Chile will lose long-term market share in Japan.
The Chilean trout product, called “salmon-trout” in Japan to differentiate it from “niji-masu” or freshwater rainbow trout, has also been very popular, and has been considered an acceptable substitution in dishes labeled as “salmon.” Japan has taken about 70 percent of Chile’s trout production.
Chile has suffered high trout mortality due to Salmon Rickettsial Syndrome (SRS). The country’s total salmonid production totaled 688,361 MT through the end of November 2013, a drop of 6 percent from the previous year. Most of the drop was in trout production, which fell 45.7 percent year-on-year to 131,200 MT. At most farms with high spread of SRS the affected fish were almost ready to be harvested. This makes it a very expensive problem for aquaculture companies and three large Chilean farmers have suspended trout production.
While the loss of sales to Japan is worrying to Chilean producers, strong demand from Latin America and China are making up for it. However, these markets favor Atlantic salmon, while Japan takes around 85 percent of Chile’s coho production of 100,000 to 150,000 MT.
Japanese supermarkets are prepared to feature seafood from Miyagi now, as consumer concern over contamination from the Fukushima nuclear disaster is fading. Coho salmon production was resumed last year off Ajishima, an island in Ishinomaki City. From 4 June, some of this year’s harvest was sold under a house brand of the Ito-Yokado supermarket chain.
The chain had started to sell the product in 2007 and it was well received. The operation harvested from 700 to 750 MT per year, worth about JPY 300 million (US 2.9 million, EUR 2.1 million), but production was interrupted by the 2011 earthquake. In addition to actual damage, rumors about dangers from the nuclear accident persisted for two years, deterring the marketing of the product.
Last year, harvests recovered to 600 MT and revenues to JPY 200 million (US 1.9 million, EUR 1.45 million). Sales were resumed this year at 160 Ito-Yokado stores nationwide, including two stores in Miyagi Prefecture. In the first year of resumed sales at the Ito-Yokado, the supermarket chain aims to sell 400 MT, a little more than half the volume sold before the earthquake.
