July 17, 2012

Vietnam's fish prices hike on low wild-catch supply

Amid reduced catches brought by depleted fisheries and changes in the maritime environment, the seafood prices in Vietnam are soaring sharply.

The wholesale price of bonito is double what it was this time last year, as is that of whitebait, due to poor catches. Overall wholesale prices had been falling because of consumer spending, but the soaring price of mainstay items has pushed the market as a whole into positive territory in recent years.

The average fishery product price at Tokyo Metropolitan Central Wholesale Market, a common benchmark, had been falling due to a consumption slump. Prices hit bottom in 2008 and 2009, mostly on the back of lower prices for larger species. From January to May, the average price was JPY837 per kilogramme (US$10.58), up 3% on the year and 6% higher than the same period two years earlier.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Japan's production of fishery products, defined as the total amount of fish caught and farmed, was down 17% in 2011 compared with five years ago, due largely to depleted resources in waters near Japan and the aging of commercial fishermen.

At Tokyo's Tsukiji seafood market, the quantity of bonito landed in June was down by half on the year, doubling its wholesale price on the year to JPY750-800 (US$9.48-$10.11) per kilogramme. Supermarket retail prices for bonito are about 20% higher than in an average year.

The wholesale price of tuna at the Tsukiji market is up about 30% on the year. Tuna catches landed in Sakaiminato, Tottori Prefecture, a major tuna fishing port in summer, have fallen by about half from the previous year.

Catches of whitebait, or immature sardines, have been scant nationwide, possibly because of low water temperatures in early spring. Dried whitebait goes for around JPY3,000 (US$37.93) per kilogramme at Tsukiji, about twice as much as the previous year. Retail prices are up by about 20%.

The nationwide haul of conger, which is in strong demand as a replacement for eel, was sharply lower - only about one-tenth what it was five years ago. An official at a fishermen's cooperative in Osaka says no one in the group has been fishing for conger lately because it is unprofitable.

Most of the conger traded on local markets are from South Korea. The wholesale price of conger at the Tsukiji market has climbed 30% on the year. That of Japanese icefish, which mainly comes from Hokkaido and Tohoku, is JPY5,000 (US$63.21) per kilogramme, a jump of 70% on the year.

According to the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization, global production of fisheries products in 2011 was up 12% compared to 2006 and reached 154 million tonnes. That owes to higher global demand due to greater health consciousness in the US and Europe and more consumption in fast-growing countries such as China. However, the number of species at risk of depletion and overfishing is on the rise.