The red snow crab season has begun on September 2, 2023 on the Sea of Japan along the Tokoyama coast. After relying long on Siberian snow crab imports, residents in Japan can therefore now enjoy a “homegrown” crab repast.
Red crabs in Japan require deep sea fishing and consequently, the first fishing vessels ventured 24 kilometers offshore on Friday, September 1st. Commercial haulers on board placed traps 800 meters below the sea surface.
During this first day, fishermen hauled in 2,100 crabs. The catch created a stir on Saturday at the Shinminato fishing point in Tokoyama Bay on the main Honshu island. Due to high demand, hundreds of red snow crabs went into auction immediately, right at the fishing port.
Even the double price factor did not come as a surprise for this first day’s auction.
“The crabs were large and meaty.’ This according to the local fisheries association at Shinminato. Thus, the meaty crustaceans attracted twice their usual market value in the normal season.
Japan is renowned for its record snow crab prices at the opening of the season. In November, 2019, a snow crab cost 5 million Yen ($46,000) at an auction, a record that has held to date.
In that same year, 2019, local demand for crabs increased by 5.5%. By the end of the year, Japan had imported 23,772 metric tonnes of live crabs in shell from mainly Russia. This was in comparison with just 4,299 tonnes of live crab exports. The total imported figure, including frozen and smoked crabs totaled 571,450 tonnes in 2019. This figure dropped to 547,653 tonnes in 2022.
In late November, 2022, prices for snow crabs from Russia fell by 50% in Japan due to oversupply. A kilogram of crab, which used to cost 6000 Yen ($43.99), dropped to 3000 Yen ($21).
By early 2023, attractive prices of Russian snow crabs saw most Japanese abandon North American shipments and go for Siberian imports. This comes at a time when the U.S. and Canada have banned imports of snow crabs from Russia.
The market prices for crabs in North America have also enjoyed a decline for most of 2023.
Thus, Canada finds Japan’s preference for Russia’s crabs due to handsome prices as undercutting. Canada shipped 3000 tonnes of snow crabs to Japan in 2022, a drop from the previous years.
The red snow crab season starts in Japanese waters in early fall and peaks during winter. It culminates at the end of May.