A tsunami caused logistics disruptions, the auction volume of frozen tuna plummeted, while the price of ice-fresh bluefin tuna remained firm.

According to market data, on July 31, only 15 frozen bluefin tuna were auctioned, a sharp decline of over 60% from the 39 tuna auctioned the previous trading day. The auction volume of frozen southern bluefin and bigeye tuna also showed a similar decline, from 182 pieces to 90 pieces, and from 529 pieces to 285 pieces. Some fresh-frozen bluefin tuna from Hokkaido, Shikoku, and other areas along the Pacific coast were also affected by the tsunami warning, causing breeding and fishing activities to be temporarily suspended, fishing boats to delay docking, and the logistics chain to be briefly disrupted. Despite this, the high-end market remained robust, especially for "jumbo bluefin" tuna air-shipped from Prince Edward Island, Canada, and Boston, USA, which continued to be traded at high prices. From July 29 to August 2 (week 31), the auction average price for these air-shipped bluefin tuna remained stable between 9,000 and 15,500 yen per kilogram (excluding tax), equivalent to ...