David @ Tokyo

Another delay on my part, but once again here's your monthly (August 2009) update for whale meat inventory statistics from Japan's Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries.

As I alluded to last time, I was unable to put these up sooner as I took a jaunt down to the Philippines. It was smashing - did some snorkeling, scuba diving, swimming, plus enjoyed some local cuisine. Best mangoes I've ever had in my life (don't eat mangoes often, but still they were amazing). More on this another time maybe.

Here's the update:

August Statistics

Statistic	Volume (tons)
Outgoing	809
Incoming	1851
Month-end	5288

The figures speak for themselves, it was a busy month with the incoming volume for an August being a record in the history I have on this going back to 2001, and 16% higher than in the prior-year period. The bulk of this seemingly was from the offshore component of the ICR's JAPRN II programme conducted in the western north pacific, which drew to a close at the end of July. Presumably it wasn't until August that by-product meat from this programme hit storage facilities. The ICR press release noted that bad weather hindered the programme this year in the northern sectors of the research area, and as a result only 43 minke whales were taken versus a planned sample size of 100, however for Sei (100) and Bryde's (50) whales, the planned number of whales were caught. Only 1 sperm whale was caught from the 10 permitted.

This additional product, while reflected in the inventory figures, will likely not be going on sale until November, judging by the sequence of events last year. The ICR will probably put out another release shortly, giving a break down of the by-products that they will be putting on sale.

Meanwhile, the outgoing volume figure was also the most for an August since 2002, however only 3% higher than the August 2008 figure. The July 2009 figure had also been the lowest in 5 years, so a somewhat stronger figure in August was not so unexpected.

On a net basis, total inventory was boosted up to 5288 tons, the bulk of which is held in Tokyo storage facilities. The last time inventory was so high was back in the summer of 2006, however in that year inventory peaked in April at a much higher level, just short of 6000 tons. As for August 2009, the outgoing figure was a 25% increase versus the prior month, and again 31% higher than the same time a year ago. While demand for whale products (as indicated through the outgoing volume figures) appears softer this year than prior to the global economic crisis, on the supply side the amount of incoming volume has actually been greater in 2009 than any year except the bumper 2006 year, which is also contributing to the increasing inventory levels.

This situation of relatively high inventory levels is not likely to change over the next few months, due to the additional 1500 tons of Icelandic fin whale products reportedly set for import into Japan. The exact timing of the related transactions does not seem to be clear yet however.


Top Regions

Region	Stockpile size at month end	Stockpile size at previous month end	Movement
Tokyo city wards	3,475	2,512	+963
Ishinomaki	394	261	+133
Hakodate	392	394	-2
Shimonoseki	274	339	-65
Funabashi	257	273	-16
Nagasaki	172	127	+45
Sasebo	79	-	-

The bulk of the incoming and outgoing volume for the month appears to have occurred in Tokyo storage facilities, with a net 963 ton gain.


Outgoing stock (cumulative)


Incoming stock (cumulative)


Monthly volumes


Annual volumes

Labels: whale meat inventory statistics, whale meat market, whale meat trade