Fish catches in Japanese waters have plunged in recent years – the catch volume hit a record low in 2020 for the second consecutive year and has dropped to about 30% of the peak in the 1980s.
Massive deaths of sea urchins and salmon have been reported off Hokkaido, and a government panel of experts has suggested dismal catches could continue due to global warming and other factors. With their backs to the wall, some fishermen are trying new approaches, such as catching different varieties.
According to the Hokkaido prefectural government, a massive red tide – a type of harmful algal bloom – that occurred off the Pacific coast from September caused the deaths of about 27,700 salmon and about 2,700 tons of sea urchin. The red tide had caused about 8 billion yen in damages as of Nov. 12.
According to the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry, the total volume of fish caught in Japan in 2020, excluding those raised through aquaculture, declined by about 2.2% from the previous year to about 3.15 million tons. This volume has been constantly dropping since peaking at about 11.5 million tons in 1984.
Catches of three highly popular kinds of fish have also fallen. Fishermen netted about 220,000 tons of Pacific saury in 2011 but this plummeted to about 30,000 tons in 2020. Likewise, the catch of Japanese flying squid dropped by 80% over this period and varieties of salmon by about 60%.
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