Prices of red sea bream, or “madai” are up in Japan. At Tokyo's Tsukiji wholesale market, 1- to 2-kilogram fish sold at JPY 1,000 to 1,100 per kilogram, about 10 percent higher than last year’s average, and 30 percent higher than at this time last year. Supermarket prices have so far risen 10 percent year-on-year to about JPY 1,400 per fish.
Seasonal and substitution demand, decreasing production and a red tide are to blame.
Sea bream, similar in appearance to red snapper, is used in celebrations in Japan, picking up on the wordplay of tai (Japanese for sea bream) and “omedetai” (“I want to congratulate you”). Demand is strongest in the spring and New Year celebrations, but stays low in the summer and fall. This year, the rising price trend began to stand out as spring demand kicked in and has continued.
Since last fall, when a food poisoning case in Japan was blamed on Korean flounder, some Japanese and Koreans have turned to Japanese sea bream as an alternative. This substitution effect boosted demand. Additionally, because prices for the fish have been low for the past few years, some farmers had curtailed production, so supplies grew tight when the spring demand strengthened.
Then in July, a red tide damaged aquaculture production on the coast of the Uwa Sea in Japan’s Ehime Prefecture. By 23 July, nearly 1.7 million farmed fish had died. On 9 July in the Yawatahama area, the sea appeared brown, and the carcasses of floating animals could be seen. A red tide struck again on the 11th causing 20 million yen in lost fish on that day.
Concentrations of plankton reached 40,000 per milliliter (ml) of seawater in the district on July 12 in Shimonada Uwajima, significantly higher than the 1,000 per ml levels, at which a risk to aquaculture is considered to exist. Heavy plankton growth and subsequent decay quickly uses up dissolved oxygen in the water, suffocating fish. The cause of the large-scale red tide is unknown but may be connected with high water temperatures.
The affected area is home to many floating pens, as the sheltered inlets and generally good water circulation are favorable to fish farming. Ehime Prefecture leads sea bream production in Japan. But the incident will damage efforts to promote the brand value of the prefecture in southwest Shikoku Island. The prefecture had just started a campaign to promote consumption of farmed fish. In the Uwajima district of Toshima, which advertises itself as “best yellowtail Toshima,” 150,000 yellowtail died.
Yellowtail and red sea bream are often farmed together. Much yellowtail is exported, while sea bream is produced mostly for domestic consumption.
He said that the red tides have passed, things have largely returned to normal, and the company continues to fill orders.
In addition to prompting a price rise in the near term, the heavy losses, estimated at JPY 600 million (EUR 6,185,393; USD 7,655,502), also pose a hardship on many small-scale aquaculture businesses. Such companies take on a lot of debt for feed and fish fry, repaying when the mature fish are sold. They may not be able to expand their borrowing enough to restock pens, though about half of the companies take part in mutual aid insurance schemes that will cover losses.
