Vietnamese farmed fish eyed as Japan's surimi ingredient alternative

Surimi prices are soaring amid tight supplies, putting processed fish product makers under pressure ahead of the peak demand season in winter.

Japan consumes more than 200,000 tons of surimi annually. 

Surimi is made primarily from Alaska pollock, but sluggish catches in the northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido and other parts of Japan have increased the country's reliance on imports from the United States and elsewhere.

According to an industry group including processed fish product makers, Alaska pollock caught in the Bering Sea, a major fishing ground, have been getting smaller in recent years. 

Reduced surimi production has led to prices doubling over the past three to four years, the group said.

Surimi is also made from golden threadfin bream, croaker and daggertooth pike conger from Southeast Asia. But the industry group said many fishers are unable to go out and catch the fish varieties due to soaring fuel costs reflecting turmoil in the Middle East.

Amid a serious shortage of fish for surimi, pangasius catfish farmed in Vietnam is attracting attention as a possible alternative. 

It has light-flavored white flesh and is exported to Europe, the United States and other markets, where it is commonly eaten fried.

A Japanese trading house dealing in food ingredients is working with a Vietnamese seafood company to make pangasius an ingredient for surimi.

"More than 1.6 million tons of pangasius are produced annually in Vietnam, making it possible to mass-produce the fish for use as an alternative ingredient," a trading house official said.

The official said the company was confident about the quality of the paste made from pangasius and that several thousand tons could be supplied annually to Japan in the future. 

Pangasius could soon become a commercially viable alternative to Alaska pollock.

Processed fish product makers are responding to declining surimi supplies and rising costs by reducing the size of their products, among other measures. 

While efforts are underway to produce surimi from other fish species that are in low demand, these efforts have yet to generate sufficient supplies.