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'Takoyaki' prices soar due to shortage of main ingredient - octopus

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One of Japan's most popular walk-away snacks -- takoyaki (grilled octopus dumplings) -- appears threatened by a shortfall in its main ingredient. Yukan Fuji (Oct 17) reports that the catch of the Akashi-dako species of octopus, so named because it is harvested off the coast of the fishing port of Akashi in Hyogo Prefecture, has fallen sharply this year.

According to data from the Hyogo Marine Technology Center, the octopus catch in the area around the Akashi Strait, between Honshu and Awaji Island, has averaged about 100 tons each July -- the busiest fishing season -- for the past five years, although in 2017 it dropped to 80 tons. This past summer, according to a fisherman, the shortfall has been even more severe.

"We're not so much worried about right now, but about the future," Toshimune Koshi tells the reporter. "We freeze the catch between June and August, and the supply is usually enough to run through the first half of next year, although supplies begin to taper off by spring."

"One thing we're grateful for," Koshi continues, "is the wider familiarization of the name of Akashi-yaki, which brings a lot of visitors here, especially on extended holiday weekends, to sample the fares. But because of the poor catch this summer, I'm not sure we'll have enough to get us through next year's Golden Week (the string of holidays that fall between late April through early May). We might have to consider raising prices."

An official at the Akashi's local fishing cooperative believes one factor in the poor catch was the change in sea temperatures in January and February.

"This year, for the first time since 1963, the temperature fell below 7 degrees," he explained. "Octopi can't deal with low temperatures and we suppose some of them died."

Koshi also blames fishing by non-professionals. "There's a designated area of several square kilometers in which people who aren't members of the cooperative are not supposed to fish, but some fishermen haul in the hatchlings or fry before they've had time to mature. We need the Akashi city government to get involved so that octopi are properly acknowledged as a resource and protected."

In any event, the decline in octopi appears to be a worldwide phenomenon. Of the approximately 84,000 tons sold each year in Japan, about 37,000 tons are harvested domestically. The main foreign sources are Morocco and Mauritania in west Africa, which supplied 32,000 tons in 2016. That figure dropped to 29,000 tons in 2017.

Japan's success in propagating the consumption of octopus abroad may also have contributed to declining stocks. Its popularity has recently spread in China, for example.

In August 2017, Tokyo's Central Fish Market handled some 65,000 kilograms of octopus; this year, the volume in August had declined to 45,000 kilograms. Hotland Co Ltd, which operates the Tsukiji Gindako franchise chain of takoyaki stands, reported a 32.9% year-on-year decline in profits over the first six months of this year. Explaining the drop, a company spokesperson cited added costs for procuring the main ingredient. From last July the company raised prices for a packet of eight octopus dumplings from 550 to 580 yen.

© Japan Today

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

15 Comments
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Oh my god yes, I think I see the link!

It's 'octopus', right?

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Agree with you Big Yen - Outside of China/East Asia, I'd say Japan has had little to do with the "propagation of the consumption of octopus" as a reason for it's decline.

When I arrived on these shores many years ago, locals were surprised that I could eat octopus and probably thought I was just being respectful. I told them I had been eating it for years before I came to Japan and if they wanted I could share some of my excellent boiling, grilling, pickling techniques. More surprise. When I told them Australians have been eating octopus for years, influenced, as Big¥said, by Italian, Greek, Spanish etc immigrants and their cuisine. They had no idea those cultures had been eating octopus for miillenia.

These days I rarely, if at all, eat it. I've seen too many cruel acts in the name of "cuisine" - quite shocking!

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

Not being fond of octopus, I once ordered Tako-yaki at a small stand, 'without the octopus'. I waited for her to make it up and revolve the dumplings for me.The woman at the stand simply slapped a pack onto the counter. "Hai!" she said, expressionlessly.

"No", I explained patiently, "I would like you to make a special set of takoyaki that has no octopus in it!"

She looked at me and said, "there is no octopus in our product."

I guess the purple-dyed Shoga ginger was fooling people's eyes...?

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

She looked at me and said, "there is no octopus in our product."

Are you sure you didn't confuse it with tai-yaki?

3 ( +5 / -2 )

I lived in Akashi for my first year in Japan way back when and thus have always counted takoyaki among the few Japanese foods that I like. One of my first shocks in Japan was walking down a shopping street and seeing so many octopuses still alive wriggling around in front of shops. I thought everywhere in Japan was like that, but later learned it was an Akashi thing.

Hope they are able to stabilize the stocks.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Just experiment with other fillings then.

Exactly. Octopus itself isn't that great/tasty anyway (much prefer calamari especially 'chipirones' & most squid/octopus recipes are more about the sauce, seasoning, spices etc anyway).

Wouldn't 'waste' some good seafood (or hams, meat etc) in takoyaki. Decent street food but nothing special imo.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

I've only had it a few times, but freshly boiled octopus is really good. So good as to question when most of the rubbery tasteless stuff you get all over is actually cooked. I reckon a lot of it must be boiled and then frozen.

The best I ever had was at Himakajima, an otherwise unremarkable island in Nagoya Bay whose entire coastline is concreted or has tons of concrete tetrapods. The octopus though, was to die for.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

"We're not so much worried about right now, but about the future," 

So, after centuries of catching as much as they can the start to think about the future now that stocks have dwindled. Perhaps it would have been a good idea to consider the future before the stocks started to dwindle.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

The price going from 550 to 580 yen doesn't qualify as “soaring”. These titles always tries to get the readers’ attention, by making a bigger deal than it warrants.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

The shortage may also be due to the sea getting warmer and the octopus moving out into deeper water making it harder to use the takotsubo. This has happened with the octopus catching in the Japan Sea.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

But but but but our food culture.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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