One saury caught in the sea off Hokkaido, northern Japan, was sold Wednesday at a retail price of 5,980 yen ($55) after the season's first auction amid a record-low catch.
In the auction held at a wholesale market in Kushiro on Hokkaido, 1 kilogram of sauries fetched a record-high 41,040 yen, beating the previous all-time high of 35,640 yen logged in 2018.
Meanwhile, the catch of the season's first day marked a record low of about 21 kg, less than half the amount in the previous year. The sauries were caught in the Pacific off eastern Hokkaido.
"Because the amount (of sauries caught) was small, the price stood high" despite falling demand for seafood caused by the novel coronavirus outbreak, said an official of a local fishermen's group.
The highest bidder Tsuyoshi Sasaya, a 43-year-old executive of a local seafood processing company, said, "The sauries (this year) are a little smaller compared with last year's fish, but they're fresh and the best. I want customers to eat them as sashimi."
