Japan’s decades long enjoyment of cheap, plentiful seafood supplies for its sushi and other dishes may be at and end owing to a combination of higher fuel prices and depleted stocks.


At present consumer prices are remaining steady as retailers and restaurants are resisting the urge to pass on the near doubling of tuna prices in the last year.


The price of raw tuna, the centre of Japanese cuisine, has surged as much as 84% in the past 12-months because of stricter catch quotas and the two-fold increase in the cost of trawler fuel since last year.


Critics of Japan’s fishing policies say the country, which consumes about 99% of global bluefin tuna stocks, is now reaping what it sowed.