Japan's attempt to set country-by-country catch quotas for Pacific saury was snubbed at an international fisheries meeting in July. Such quotas are indispensable for proper management of saury stocks. The government should introduce the idea again in a meeting next year and increase the chances of it being accepted by making careful efforts to gain support from countries that opposed it this year.

The nation's catch of Pacific saury, a fish many Japanese relish as an autumnal dish, is on the decline. The annual catch, which used to amount to 200,000 to 300,000 tons — the largest in the Northern Pacific Ocean — fell to 110,000 tons in 2015 and 2016. Taiwan has occupied the top position since 2013, catching 146,000 tons in 2016, while the catch by China, which was only 2,000 tons in 2012, shot up to 63,000 tons last year. Japan's declining catch is reflected in the rising price of Pacific saury, which hit ¥2,131 per 10 kg at the dock in 2016, nearly twice the 2011 price.

Since Japanese consumers are particular about the freshness of the saury they eat, local fishermen catch the fish near the coasts inside the nation's exclusive economic zone, using small fishing boats and returning to their ports daily so their catch can quickly be brought to market. In contrast, Chinese and Taiwanese operate large fishing boats in areas outside the EEZ, lying more than 400 km from Japanese coasts. They operate for several months at a stretch and freeze their catch aboard their ships. In recent years, the number of Pacific saury in Japan's coastal waters is also believed to have declined due to rising sea temperatures in the area.