Price of tuna rebounds amid weakening yen after plunging in 1st half

The weak yen and strong won are pushing up the price of tuna in Korea. According to the consignment sales statistics by fish type of Busan Cooperative Fish Market (BCFM) on Thursday, tuna was priced at 0.92 dollars per kg. This is a 23.1-percent increase in September year-on-year from 0.75 dollars per kilogram.

Tuna prices in the first half of the year plunged by more than 40 percent year-on-year. The weakening yen pushed down Korea`s tuna exports to Japan, causing overflowing stock in the Korean market. Japan consumes more than 80 percent of tuna for sashimi caught by Korean fishers.

The rebound of tuna prices is attributable to a drop in consignment sales in Korea. Such sales in the BCFM surged triple from January to May this year, but went down again from June, dropping 62.4 percent year-on-year in September.

Why have the consignment sales dropped? Experts attribute this to a reduction in the catch owing to overfishing. The decrease in tuna hauls is one of the foremost issues in the global fisheries industry. Albacore Tuna in the Indian Ocean stocks have also reduced, leading to relevant nations discussing introduction of fishing quotas.