Ensure sanma autumn treat does not disappear from Japanese tables

Record poor catches of sanma saury, an autumn delicacy in Japan, are likely to continue this year. To protect this “flavor of the people,” it is hoped the economies concerned will strive to conduct surveys and prevent overfishing.

Japan’s sanma hauls have been decreasing every year. In recent years the catch peaked at about 350,000 tons in 2008, but last year dropped to about 40,000 tons, the lowest ever.

According to a national research institute, this year’s catch is expected to fall further, and the level by mid-September was only about 20% of the previous year’s level.

It is not uncommon for prices to soar due to scarcity, and seeing the fish on supermarket shelves for ¥400 to ¥500 apiece is no longer unusual. It is worrisome that sanma saury might move “out of people’s reach” and disappear from our tables.

From summer to autumn, sanma migrate northward through the high seas of the Pacific Ocean, where anyone can fish, and then enter the exclusive economic zone of the coastal waters, Japan’s main fishing grounds. The sanma caught in the coastal waters are large, fatty and delicious.

One of the reasons for the poor catches of sanma is thought to be that these fish, which prefer cold water, have stopped coming to the waters near Japan due to higher seawater temperatures caused by global warming. The water temperature has risen further this year, which may have accelerated the decline in catches.

The government must proceed with a detailed investigation of the situation.

There are also concerns about the effects of overfishing. In Taiwan and China, the demand for sanma is growing due to the popularity of eating fish amid increasing health consciousness. Therefore, some believe Taiwan and Chinese fishermen are using large vessels to catch sanma on the high seas before they enter the waters around Japan.

Japan has been proposing the establishment of fishing quotas since 2017, and the North Pacific Fisheries Commission (NPFC), which consists of eight economies including Japan, China and Taiwan, agreed on its first catch restrictions last year. This is a commendable step toward the recovery of sanma resources.

However, the upper limit of the fishing quota for 2020 was set at 550,000 tons for the high seas and EEZ combined, which at almost three times the actual result in 2019 is too generous. The upper limit needs to be lowered.

A concerning factor is that an NPFC meeting originally scheduled for June has been postponed to February of next year due to the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The meeting was supposed to decide on the allocation of fishing quotas to each economy within the overall fishing quota.

If the meeting cannot be held in person, an online meeting is worth considering. Thorough discussions must be held on lowering the overall quota and the allocation of quotas to members, as well as monitoring measures to make the restrictions more effective.

Japan has been notably struggling in international negotiations on resource management, such as eel and bluefin tuna. It should carefully promote the need for appropriate resource management to protect Japan’s fisheries industry.