TOKYO, May 31 (Xinhua) -- Production of seafood in Japan has hit a record low for the second consecutive year, owing to falling demand for certain types of seafood amid the COVID-19 pandemic as well as changes in water conditions, the government said in a report on Monday.
According to the fisheries ministry, seafood production in 2020 slipped 0.5 percent from the previous year to 4.175 million tons.
The figure in the reporting period includes marine products that had been farmed, the ministry said.
According to the data, the figure for 2020 marked the lowest number on record since comparable data became available in 1956.
The output of mackerel dropped 16.4 percent from a year earlier to 376,600 tons, the ministry's data showed, while that of salmon edged down 0.9 percent to 55,900 tons.
In the same period, saury output dropped 35.2 percent to 29,700 tons, said the ministry.
The ministry cited changes in tidal currents and water temperatures as reasons behind low yields of saury and other fish during the reporting period.
A decline in the number of people dining out since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus pandemic here, meanwhile, has seen demand for farmed oysters drop, the ministry also said. Enditem
