The two major factors for the gradually declining trend can be found in the Skipjack and Yellowfin volumes.
Skipjack, which is the leading tuna species, went down somewhat both fresh as well as frozen.
Also frozen Yellowfin, which use to be the second major tuna item, decreased considerably in 2007, going from 32.180 tons in 2006 to only 16.264 in 2007.
On the other hand, the volumes of Albacore made a huge jump between 2006 and 2007; landings sky rocketed from 36.411 M/T to 63.583 M/T respectively. This represented an amazing 75% boost which had a very positive influence on the total Japanese landings last year.
Besides reduced quotas and stringent regulations in foreign fishing grounds, Japanese distant water fishing efforts are reduced because of the high fuel cost and declining catches.
