Wholesale prices of snow crab--now in the prime season in Japan--stay in a high zone as landings remain sluggish due to adverse weather in the Sea of Japan.
Furthermore, there is a move to supply domestically-caught snow crab to fill the shortage of imported snow crab because of decreased shipments from Russia.
The wholesale price of male snow crab (Matsuba crab) at Tokyo's Tsukiji Fish Market fetch around Y10,000 per kilo while that of female crab (Seko crab) stand at about Y300-400 per crab. Both levels represent an increase of 30-50% from a year before.
The fishing season in Japan opened on November 6. But landings seem to be 40-50% less than last year due to bad weather, says a fisheries cooperative official of Hyogo Prefecture, west to Osaka. The size is also conspicuously small, he said.
The fishing period in the Sea of Japan has been shortened by about 10 days as compared to previous years due to consideration to the conservation of the stock.
Some dealers are reportedly hastening to procure snow crab from sources other than local fishing.
The tightening of fishing regulation by the Russian government is also impacting the snow crab supply in Japan.
In October, supply of frozen Russian snow crab in Japan plummeted about 70% from the same month of the previous year.
A fisheries trading house official observed that the high prices are likely to continue for some time from now, as dealers are trying to offset the shortage of imported crab with supply of domestic products.