Sardine fishing season in eastern Hokkaido, Japan, ends with zero catch for the first time in 25 years, forcing fishmeal plants to halt production
Japanese fishermen failed to catch sardines off eastern Hokkaido for the first time in a quarter of a century, causing fishmeal processing companies to suspend operations; Japan's fisheries research agency assesses that Pacific sardine biomass has fallen from more than 5 million tonnes in 2022 to 1.69 million tonnes in 2025, and the Fisheries Agency proposes cutting the 2027 allowable catch from 661,000 tonnes in 2026 to 162,000 tonnes.
According to a November 5, 2026 report by the Russian fisheries news website Fishnews, Japanese fishermen failed to catch sardines (иваси, i.e. sardine-иваси) off the coast of eastern Hokkaido for the first time in a quarter of a century, forcing fishmeal processing companies to halt production. Hokkaido sardine fishermen said this was the worst fishing season in nearly 25 years; between 2019 and 2024, fishermen caught about 200,000 tonnes per year.
Surveys by Japanese experts also showed an absence of sardines. During operations at 7 survey stations along the island's eastern coast from October 15 to 21, not a single sardine was caught. Researchers noted that the influence of the cold Oyashio current (Ойясио) has strengthened, but it is not yet possible to determine to what extent the disappearance of sardines in the fishing grounds is related to changes in oceanographic conditions and to what extent it is related to a decline in the resource stock.
According to an assessment by Japan's Fisheries Research and Education Agency (FRA), Pacific sardine biomass has fallen from more than 5 million tonnes in 2022 to 1.69 million tonnes in 2025, while the stock's reproductive condition has deteriorated. Accordingly, the Japan Fisheries Agency proposes setting the 2027 allowable catch of Pacific sardine at 162,000 tonnes, compared with 661,000 tonnes in 2026.
The report also recalled that Russian fishermen have encountered difficulties in sardine fishing in the past two years. This year, fishing in the South Kuril Islands did not start, and sardines were instead caught in the Sea of Japan. Russian experts link the reduced arrival of sardines in waters near the Kuril Islands to the significant development of the first branch of the Oyashio and to late spawning along the Pacific coast of Japan.
In the same report, Fishnews linked another news item: as of early November, 3,000 tonnes of sardines had been caught in the Sea of Japan.
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