1kg of gizzard gizzard 17,600 won, a jump of 184%
Large supermarkets cannot sell gizzard shad for raw fish
High temperature warning issued for 71 days, longest ever
Fish and shellfish such as mussels and oysters are also dying one after another.
The term ‘autumn shad’ has become meaningless.
Lotte Mart is not selling gizzard shad in the fall for the first time in nine years since 2015. This is because the wholesale price of shad has soared to three times that of last year as the shad fishing volume has been cut in half. E-Mart sells shad sashimi and gizzard shad, but has reduced the quantity to half of last year.
It has become difficult to find shad even on online seafood platforms. Seungjun Kim (32), who lives in Gangdong-gu, Seoul, searched through seafood distribution platforms, but found that there were not many stores that sold shad as a single item and the price was too high. In the end, I had to be satisfied with ordering assorted raw fish with gizzard shad from my favorite raw fish restaurant. Mr. Kim said, “The gizzard shad I wanted to taste the most was only a few pieces,” and “I was looking forward to it because it is a fish that can only be enjoyed during the fall season, but I am disappointed.”
Due to the heat wave that lasted until fall, the prices of seasonal marine products such as gizzard shad and crabs soared two to three times. ‘Fish inflation (fish + inflation)’ is gradually worsening as the seawater temperature rises and the amount of fish caught decreases.
According to the Fisheries Cooperative Noryangjin Fisheries on the 20th, the price of 1kg of shad in the second week of this month (7th to 12th) was 17,600 won, up 184% from a year ago (October 9th to 14th last year). A raw fish restaurant in Noryangjin Fish Market sells 400g small shad shad for 50,000 won per plate. Last year, the same amount was reportedly sold for around 30,000 won. The owner of this raw fish restaurant said, “Many people looked for shad in the fall as sashimi because of its low price, but as the catch decreased, the wholesale price per kg of shad more than doubled.” He added, “Customers also find this price burdensome, so they only bring it to suit the assortment.” “He said.
Large supermarkets are reducing the quantity of not only raw fish but also grilling items. Homeplus, which originally did not handle shad sashimi, reduced the quantity of shad for grilling to half of last year’s level. There is a small amount of fresh fish for grilling compared to live fish for sashimi, but even this is not enough.
The same goes for blue crabs. The price of 1kg of female crab was 17,200 won, up 219% from the previous year. According to statistics from the National Federation of Fisheries Cooperatives member associations, the volume of blue crab sold last month was 2,707 tons, a 47.5% decrease from the same period last year (5,152 tons). An official at a large supermarket said, “We are barely able to secure the quantity and sell it through a pre-contracted fleet.” The prices of wild flounder and wild sea bass, which are the raw fish most frequently visited by consumers, rose 91% and 81% from the previous year to 33,600 won and 20,800 won, respectively, per 1 kg.
The biggest cause of rising seafood prices is high temperatures. According to the National Institute of Fisheries Science of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, the water temperature along the southern coast from the 5th to the 11th of this month was 24.2 degrees, 2.2 degrees higher than the average year (1991 to 2020). The east coast was 23.0 degrees and the west coast was 23.1 degrees, 1.8 degrees and 1.9 degrees higher than normal, respectively. This year’s high-temperature warning was issued for 71 days, the longest in history, causing significant damage to fish farming. A high temperature warning is issued when the water temperature fluctuates more than 2 degrees compared to normal.
The death rate of fish and shellfish also increased. According to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, the number of mussels that have died due to high temperatures this year is 2,245 rows (1 row = approximately 142,000 mussels) as of the 18th of this month. By simple calculation, there are over 300 million. Last year, there were no reports of mussels dying due to high temperatures. An official from the Korea Maritime and Fisheries Development Institute said, “Mussels are in very poor condition due to death and dropout in most fishing grounds in Korea.”
The number of dead oysters increased to 7,628, 8.3 times the number of the previous year (916). Abalone shipments this month are expected to decrease by 4.5% to 1,650 tons compared to the same month last year (1,727 tons). It is reported that damage to farmed sea squirts is serious, especially on the southern coast.
An official from the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries said, “We plan to monitor the supply and demand situation of marine products and support discount events when necessary.”
Reporter Eunji Kim [email protected]
Reporter Lee Seok-bok [email protected]
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