The sanctions imposed by Tokyo as a result of the invasion of Ukraine excluded fishery products, vital for the Japanese market, which imports 40% of what it needs. The Russian government is focusing on revitalizing the fishing industry to grow in Far Eastern markets, favored by the decline in production in the United States.
Tokyo ( / Agencies) – The deterioration of relations with Moscow due to the war in Ukraine has not affected Russian exports of seafood to the Japanese market. Rather the opposite: according to data provided by the Tokyo Ministry of Finance in 2022, fish imports from Russia reached a record value of 155.2 billion yen (more than 1 billion euros). Since 1992 -the year following the collapse of the Soviet Union- these levels have not been reached.
In recent months, Japan decreed a freeze on imports of certain Russian products, including vodka and wood. But fish products were excluded from the measure, arguing that the negative effect of the stoppage of fish imports on national companies would be too great. It is estimated that Japan imports around 40% of the seafood consumed in the country, and Russia is the third supplier after Chile and the United States.
By products, the main one in 2022 was the king crab, which had been imported from Russia for a value of 32,600 million (about 220 million euros). This increase is likely due to Russian exporters moving to Japan after being forced out of the US and other Western markets. Imports of hake paste, an ingredient in “kamaboko”, a fried fish, multiplied seven times over the previous year. On the other hand, poor fishing conditions in Japan also caused an increase in imports of sea urchin, salmon and trout from Russia, among other products.
“The Russian government is focusing on revitalizing the seafood industry in order to grow in Far Eastern markets. The presence of Russian products in Japan is expected to increase in the future as production continues to decline in the United States,” said Seiji Haraguchi. , director of the Hokkaido Federation of Trawl Fisheries Cooperatives, to the Japanese agency KyodoNews.
