The results of a catch survey conducted in late June by the Hokkaido Research Institute indicate that Pacific saury landings will be lower than last year, according to a Nikkei Shimbun report.
Although the seawater temperature in the area off Hokkaido and NE Honshu islands is favorable for saury returns, the stock numbers are poor. The catch by the survey vessel was a fifth less than in the previous year. In some years, warmer than usual water keeps saury in areas farther northeast and just outside of Japan’s exclusive economic zone, where they are caught by Taiwanese vessels.
Saury catches are highly variable. For example, the domestic catch in 2016, about 100,000 metric tons, was less than half that of 2014. In Hokkaido, the season will open in early July, but fishermen are not expected to fish in earnest until the numbers in the local waters increase.
The Hokkaido Research Institute also predicted that salmon returns to Hokkaido this fall would be 3.8 from last year. The landings of skipjack tuna returning to the northeast coast of Honshu Island from June to November are likely to be the same as last year, though this is below the average of the past 10 years.
