The season for snow crab began in the main crabbing area of the Sea of Japan on 6 November, kicking off the winter crab hotpot season.
Off Toyama, which has a soft muddy bottom, crabs are taken by dragnet. “Kanibiru” that appear on the shells of the crabs are the eggs of a leech-like parasite. As the local sea bottom has few rocks, crab shells are one the few available hard surfaces to which they can attach their eggs. Thus, authentic Sea of Japan crabs are more likely to have them, and they are seen as an indicator of origin. They also indicate good quality, since a heavy accumulation may mean that months have passed since molting, meaning fuller meat.
High-quality male crabs are given regional labels, such as "Matsuba crab" in Toyama and “Echizen crab” in Fukui Prefecture. However, in early landings this year, males were small and scarce, leading to high dockside prices.
Landings on the day at the Port of Maizuru in Kyoto Prefecture totaled 732 kilograms for males and 1,924 kgs for females, down from 752 and 2,910 kgs, respectively. Crab sales at the portside auction on the day totaled 38.59 million yen, for an average of JPY 14,529 per kilogram (USD 118.37, EUR 111.42). It should be borne in mind, however, that the top five male crabs are usually sold at ridiculous prices for the sake of gaining PR (much as for the first bluefin tuna of the new year). Thus, real prices are somewhat lower.
The crabs are mainly marketed in the Keihanshin area, including Osaka, Kobe and Kyoto. Live crabs are also served at local traditional inns, where they serve as a major tourism draw. The season for males extends to March 20, while that for females runs through December.
Crabbing began earlier, on 7 September, further south in Tottori and Shimane Prefectures, and further north in Niigata Prefecture. In these areas, where the bottom is rockier, the fishing is done with crab-pots and the season runs through the end of June.
Most of the frozen market, however, is made up of imported Russian, Canadian and US product. Norwegian snow crab is also appearing more frequently. At an Osaka supermarket, Russian peeled legs for shabu-shabu use were retailing at 1,750 yen (USD 14.26, EUR 13.41) for a 250 gram pack. Norway-origin cut frozen snow crab was JPY 980 (USD 7.98, EUR 7.51) per 300 gram pack.
Websites offering home delivery by refrigerated parcel delivery are a popular sales channel, especially for events like parties and the New Year. A representative offering is two kilograms of Russian snow crab leg clusters for 8,280 yen (USD 67.46, EUR 63.49), including delivery cost.
Imports have become expensive in yen terms due to the weak yen and competition from the Korean and Chinese markets. One such website posted a notice to customers: “Because crab is very poor catch this year, it has become a significant rise. I am very sorry.”
