Eel Remains High-Priced in Japan Despite Some Recovery in Supply

The average market price for eel in Japan in May 2023 was ¥5,553 per kilogram, according to statistics based on Tokyo Metropolitan Central Wholesale Market’s monthly and annual reports. In 2022, the average annual price was ¥4,998 and had remained in that range of around ¥5,000 for the last five years. Since 2009 and 2010, when the price was roughly ¥2,300, it has been rising sharply, reaching the ¥4,000 to ¥5,000 range in 2012 and exceeding ¥5,000 in 2019.

Eel, known as unagi, is a quintessential ingredient and a mainstay of Japanese food culture. However, in the period 2009 through 2012, catches of juvenile glass eels in Japan fell drastically. Whereas previous catches reached 200,000 to 300,000 tons, the volume had dropped to less than 100,000 tons, so in February 2013, the Ministry of the Environment designated the Japanese eel as endangered (Class IB on its red list, meaning the eel is likely to become extinct in the future). In June 2014, the International Union for Conservation of Nature added the Japanese eel to its Red List of Threatened Species.

The graph above shows a breakdown of how the supply of eels has been changing in Japan over the last six decades. Currently, only around 60 tons are caught by fisheries. In 2021, 42,000 tons, or two-thirds of the total supply, was imported from countries like China , and 20,000 tons, or one-third, was produced through domestic aquaculture.

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References : nippon.com