Japanese seafood exports have been affected since mid-August 2008 due to good rise of the yen against US dollars. As per the record the dollar has sunk from JPY 110.49 on 15 August to JPY 89.14 on 30 January. The yen is being driven up by foreign exchange dealers turning to it as a low-risk currency amid the economic meltdown in the United States, as Japanese banks were relatively unharmed by the sub-prime mortgage debacle.
The Japanese authority informed that in October 2008 exports of dressed and frozen Japanese chum salmon (akizake), mostly to China, were down 48 percent on a smaller catch and higher yen. By November, the price was 3.7 percent higher, with year-on-year volume down 19.8 percent. In November 2008 exports of Japanese mackerel (saba) were down 17.2 percent.
The Japanese fisheries industry newspaper Minato Shimbun reported that volume of frozen scallop (hotate) exported to US had surged by 59 percent from January to October 2008 in comparison to the same period in 2007, but sales abruptly stopped after the U.S. financial crisis hit. Likewise, dried shellfish sales to Hong Kong have plummeted due to the poor economy there and the high yen.
According to the Japan Fisheries Agency reported that November 2008 seafood exports were down 17.2 percent in volume and 35.5 percent in yen value year-on-year. The sharp increase in the value of the yen in late September occurred just as the saury fishery peaked.
