Japan's seafood industry is feeling the fallout of the Ukraine crisis as prices of imports are rising.
The rising prices are partly due to the disrupted transport of seafood since the flights from Europe are avoiding Russian airspace, sharply reducing arrivals from Norway and blocking the supply chain in Japan.
"The flight distance is longer, so that's pushing up the cost. We now have to sell to our customers at a much higher rate than we used to. Of course, that leads to a decrease in sales at retail stores. We're only seeing 70 to 80 percent of usual demand," said Naoki Kaneko, President of Ocean Trading.
Adding to Japan's woes, the value of the yen has plummeted and it's making imports painfully expensive, raising questions about food security in Japan.
"The pandemic disrupted the fragile global supply chain. Then there are also issues about high petrol prices as well as climate change. These issues have piled up, and now the Russia-Ukraine conflict is adding to this difficult situation. I don't think this is something that can be solved in the short-term. In Japan's case, it's struggling with a weak yen. If things continue like this, we won't have the power to import anymore," said Akio Shibata, president of National Resource Research Institute.
