Japan's Squid Fishery Collapsing - Down 70% In 10 Years, Thanks To Overfishing, Warming

[hatrack]

Grilled, raw, stewed, dried, fermented, fried: squid has long been consumed with abundance in Japan, appearing in countless everyday dishes. Now, however, Japan’s long-running love affair with squid is in danger, with growing reports that catches this season have hit a record low, causing prices to soar.

A drop in volumes of squid caught by Japanese fisherman has been attributed by experts to a combination of overfishing and rising sea temperatures due to climate change.

One region hit particularly hard is Hakodate on Japan’s northernmost island Hokkaido, a so-called “squid town” which has long enjoyed nationwide fame as a hub for all things squid, in particular the popular Pacific flying squid. Despite peak squid fishing season normally taking place from June to January, as many as 90 per cent of Hakodate’s 20-strong fleet of squid fishing vessels have remained in port since October due to record low catches, according to Kyodo news agency.


The statistics in Hakodate paint a particularly bleak picture of a squid industry in decline: fishermen reportedly caught 61,000 tonnes of Pacific flying squid in 2017, marking a 13 per cent drop compared to the previous year – and less than 30 per cent of the total squid catch 10 years earlier. Many of the 70 seafood processing companies in Hakodate alone are opting to diversify in the face of squid shortages, switching a focus onto alternative maritime products.

EDIT

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/01/21/japans-squid-industry-crisis-amid-record-low-catches/

[Canoe52]

1. When the fisheries collapse there is going to be a lot of hungry people in the world.