The long-held assumption that "mackerel means Norwegian" is starting to crack. Prices of Norwegian mackerel have surged due to climate change and fishing quota restrictions. As a price reversal emerges in which domestic mackerel becomes cheaper than Norwegian imports, more consumers are choosing the local product.
According to the retail industry Sunday, an analysis of E-mart's mackerel sales this year (January to May) showed that sales of domestic mackerel rose 49.4% from the same period last year. This contrasts with a 5% decline in sales of imported mackerel. At Lotte Mart, domestic mackerel sales for January to May this year increased 20.8% year-on-year, while the growth rate for imported mackerel sales stood at just 4%.
The shift is attributed to rising demand for domestic mackerel, as prices of imported mackerel — whose biggest weapon had been price competitiveness — climbed significantly over the past several months.
This year's total allowable catch (TAC) for Northeast Atlantic mackerel, including Norway, is 299,000 tons, down 48% from last year. Norway's cumulative mackerel production through May was just 1,254 tons, an 84.8% decrease from the same period last year. As a result, the unit price of Norwegian frozen mackerel surged from around $2 per kilogram last year to $6 in May this year. At the retail level, the price of imported salted mackerel was 10,803 won per bundle this month, up 26.5% from 8,541 won in June last year.
By contrast, the price of 10 kilograms of domestic frozen mackerel fell more than 10%, from 49,348 won in May last year (based on wholesale prices) to 43,771 won last month. This is attributed to domestic coastal mackerel catches remaining at a favorable level, along with the domestic retail industry stockpiling larger volumes than usual in advance.
The retail industry is also working to secure domestic supplies while seeking out new production sources. E-mart will officially begin selling Chilean mackerel starting Wednesday, securing domestic volumes while exploring new sourcing regions. Chilean mackerel is larger on average than Norwegian mackerel while priced at about half the cost, and is expected to absorb substitute demand.
As prices of major agricultural, livestock and fishery products such as mackerel, eggs and chicken continued to rise, the government has also moved to prepare supply measures. The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs formed a "Summer Agricultural and Livestock Product Supply Stabilization Task Force" and held its first meeting last Tuesday. The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries decided to supply up to 8,000 tons of government-stockpiled fishery products to the market from May 20 through July 15.
