—Japanese flying squid season off to an uneven start—

Japanese flying squid supplies are showing a mixed early-season picture in Japan, with Hokkaido’s Hakodate market struggling while Ishikawa landings are running ahead of recent benchmarks.

In Hakodate, one of Japan’s best-known squid ports, June handling volume of fresh Japanese flying squid fell to 2.7 tons, down 7.3 tons from the same month last year and the lowest level since 2005, according to local market data reported by Hakodate media. Local small squid-jigging vessels landed only 347 kg in June, compared with 3,009 kg a year earlier, as poor availability limited fishing activity.

The picture is different in Ishikawa Prefecture, where small squid-jigging landings from May 1 to June 10 totaled 278 tons. That was above both the previous year’s 220 tons and the recent five-year average of 190 tons, according to Ishikawa Prefecture fisheries data.

The contrast suggests that Japan’s early summer Japanese flying squid season is uneven rather than uniformly poor. Hakodate’s late and weak start remains a serious concern for the local market, but stronger Ishikawa landings show that conditions vary sharply by fishing area as the season develops.

At Toyosu, the price fell from JPY 1,393/kg to JPY 1,008/kg (-27.6%), while weekly volume also fell from 63,225 kg to 46,950 kg (-25.7%). While Hakodate has reported that the few squid caught were also of small size, that was not the case in Ishikawa. In the May 1–June 10 period, squid there were reported as mainly 30 squid per box and 40-or-more squid per box, close to both the previous year and the five-year average.