Seafood crisis in Japan

Seafood demand is down in Japan, way down. "The fish are here, but nobody's buying," says one fish seller about business at the Tsukiji auction, Japan's premier fish market.

Tsukiji is normally a busy city, with some 60,000 workers, but prices have plunged by up to 50% for some seafood products.

"The drop in demand from sushi restaurants and the cancellation of weddings and banquets at hotels are partly to blame," an official of the market's marine and agricultural produce section said.

Radiation fears are also a problem according to mysinchew.com:

Food safety fears have risen since radiation from the coastal Fukushima plant has been detected in vegetables and dairy products grown nearby, and after iodine levels in Tokyo tap water rose above levels safe for infants.

There has been no official warning about the impact on marine life, but operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Thursday that iodine-131 levels in the ocean near the plant were 145 times the legal level, Kyodo News reported.

Japan's seafood world is reeling, and the outcome is far from clear. The problems will likely persist for some time. The biggest long-term risk may be the radiation scare that already has some seafood buyers scared (see photo above of a chef screening imported seafood for radioactivity).

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Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo

Tsukiji fish market was amazing. It's a small city, estimated to have around 60,000 people who work there. It's interesting that they're not quite sure, since most people who are there work in independent businesses.

Here's a short video clip of tuna being auctioned at the famous Tsukiji Fish Market in Tokyo, the world's larget. There are two auctioneers working at once, the singing sounds are the voices of the auctioneers. Note the differences in their voices, to work near each other they have distinct styles, one more uniform and the other with a repeating rhythmic sound.



There are some amazing fish being sold, I wonder how much for this fish that looks to be a 300 kg (660 pound) bluefin tuna? There are hundreds of tuna in this room on this day, you can see them spread out on racks that go perhaps 100 meters into the distance. There's another room in the other direction that has nearly this many tuna in it also. I'm not sure how many tuna overall, but well into the hundreds and perhaps over a thousand. Just one day's business in Tsukiji.

Walking around the fringes of the market, you can find retail stalls selling anything. Here are some whole dried sardines, at 2000 yen per kilogram (about 10 US dollars per pound). Whatever you like, I'm sure you can find it here.

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