At the Tsukiji wholesale market on 21 April, fresh domestic bluefin tuna sold at a high of JPY 10,800 (USD 90.60; EUR 83.48) while imported frozen reached JPY 6,264 (USD 52.53; EUR 48.43). Frozen imported southern bluefin reached JPY 5,184 (USD 43.56; EUR 40.00).In the fiscal year through March 2015, Japan’s imports of bluefin increased 2 percent by weight and 7 percent by yen-denominated value over the previous year.
The increase in value this reflects the declining yen rather than the purchase of higher grades. In August 2014, the yen moved from the 101-102 per U.S. dollar range to around 109 in August/September, and then further weakened by year-end to the current 119-120 level. As a result, airflown chilled imports are declining and chilled tuna offered is mainly domestic product, while imports are mainly frozen.
While most farm-raised bluefin now comes to Japan from operations in Baja California, Mexico, and Port Lincoln, Australia, which is using wild-caught juveniles, technical developments beyond the Kinki University program promise greater future supply from closed-cycle breeding.
Korea’s National Fisheries Research and Development Institute has announced the formation of a nationally sponsored consortium of government research institutes and private fishing companies to research bluefin breeding off Jeju Island. Its current program has already successfully raised wild-caught juveniles to maturity.
In Japan, the high cost and time for maintaining breeding tuna could be dramatically slashed by injecting bluefin reproductive cells into mackerel, which would then lay and fertilize tuna instead of mackerel. The benefit are that mackerel mature in one year while tuna take five; and that mackerel are small and easily caged and fed, while tuna are huge, voracious, and often kill themselves by ramming into tank walls. The technology is being developed by Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology fish specialist Goro Yoshizaki.
For bigeye tuna at Tsukiji, the high price for fresh domestic was JPY 3,024 (USD 58.83; EUR 22.91) and that for imported frozen was JPY 3,780 (31.76; EUR 28.64). Frozen swordfish is finding favor in Japan with 6,629 kilograms of fresh domestic at JPY 1,620 (USD 13.61; EUR 12.27) and 7,655 kg of imported frozen fillets at JPY 1,404 (USD 11.80; EUR 10.63) sold on the day. Swordfish is often served in Japan as cooked steaks in the manner of ahi (yellowtail) tuna steak in the United States, rather than raw. Yellowfin sold fresh and frozen at JPY 1,836 and 972 per kg (USD 15.44; EUR 13.89 and USD 8.17; EUR 7.34), respectively.
The trend away from fatty bluefin toward red meat tuna continues, but Golden Week, with multiple holidays in the two weeks of April 27 through May 10, should give see more sales of fattier bluefin, as people tend to splurge during this period, as during the New Year.
