Season’s 1st Saury Fetches ￥200,000 Per Kilogram at Toyosu Martket

Jiji Press

17:12 JST, August 21, 2023

TOKYO (Jiji Press) — This season’s first batch of saury, also called sanma, fetched a new record wholesale price of ¥200,000 per kilogram, or ¥25,000 per fish, at Tokyo’s Toyosu market Monday, reflecting poor catches.

The first saury price, for fish weighing around 120 to 130 grams each, shot up from ¥120,000 per kilogram last year, for fish weighing about 110 grams.

The first batch, totaling some 500 kilograms, was landed by small fishing boats at Hanasaki Port in Nemuro, Hokkaido, and other ports by Saturday morning.

The arrival of the season’s first saury was more than a month later than last year, but the amount of the first batch jumped from only about 1 kilogram last year.

This season’s first saury price was as high as rarely seen even for bluefin tuna. “We want to stimulate the market as much as possible,” said Yasuhiro Yamazaki, head of middle trader Yamaharu, which bought the saury.

The company plans to distribute the saury to sushi restaurants in the United States and Tokyo, he said.