Pacific saury is a traditional autumn favorite in Japan, but poor catches in recent years are sending prices soaring. Factors include climate change, overfishing, and foreign competition.
It used to be that large sanma, or Pacific saury, could be bought for around ¥100 each at fishmongers in Japan. Those days are long gone though and in recent times, even in peak season, they now usually sell for around ¥300 per fish.
The chart below shows how Pacific saury catch volumes and prices have been changing over the last two decades or so. From 2001 through 2014, around 200,000 tons were landed almost every year. Between 2015 and 2018 though, this volume dropped to around 100,000 tons, and since 2019 has fallen further to below 50,000 tons. Meanwhile, the landing price in 2021 and 2022 soared to around ¥6,000 per 10 kilograms, compared to a previous price of roughly ¥1,000.
It is thought that the increasingly poor catches are due to changes in the ocean environment, including rising sea temperatures, a decrease in resources due to overfishing, and the presence of foreign fishing fleets. Back in 2008, when the landing volume was close to 300,000 tons, schools of saury would gradually migrate south along the coast from Hokkaidō to Ibaraki Prefecture. However, in recent years, the main fishing grounds have shifted toward the international waters to the far east of Hokkaidō, which takes fleets one to two days to reach from port before fishing can even begin. Along with the shrinking schools of saury, there has been a decrease in the number of fishing trips and landings, leading to a fall in the volume caught.
Following an agreement with the North Pacific Fisheries Commission, which manages fisheries resources internationally, Japan’s Fisheries Agency cut the 2025 Pacific saury quota by 10% from the previous year to 95,623 tons. This was the first time since the quotas started being set in 1997 that the figure had gone below 100,000. The actual volume of catches though is expected to be lower.
The following graph shows the Japanese ports with the largest landings in 2024 and their respective shares. While the ports of Kushiro, Miyako, Onahama, and Chōshi had previously seen large catches, they now record landings of less than 100 tons.
According to the Fisheries Agency, the nation or region that caught the largest amount of Pacific saury in the North Pacific in 2023 was Taiwan. Next was China, followed by Japan in third place. The amount caught by Russia has fallen significantly in recent years due to the fishing grounds shifting beyond its Exclusive Economic Zone (200 nautical miles) into international waters. Taiwan’s catch of Pacific saury is mainly landed frozen, with a high proportion predominantly exported to South Korea, Japan, and China.
Data Sources
(Translated from Japanese. Banner photo © Pixta.)
AloJapan.com