Japanese fishery officials are welcoming the return of large sauries this season after years of poor, smaller catches of the fish, a delicacy enjoyed in Japan during summer and autumn.

On Aug. 10, large ships left port to kick off this season¡¯s fishing operations, 10 days earlier than in an average year. Sauries are mainly landed in Hokkaido and the Tohoku region.

¡°Large sauries are being caught this season,¡± says a local industry official.

This year¡¯s saury fishing season has just begun, and although the current fishing grounds are on the high seas far from Japan, sauries are being landed at a faster pace than in recent years.

The Japan Fisheries Research and Education Agency speculated that the sauries have eaten well since this spring, when they grow while moving around the sea.

In its advance research, the agency also predicted that the number of large sauries would increase this year, compared with the previous year.

Still, the agency believes that the amount of migratory sauries will be as low as the level seen in the previous year.

Sauries are being shipped daily to the Toyosu wholesale market in Tokyo¡¯s Koto Ward. Many caught in late August weighed 140 grams to 150 grams, a 1.4-fold increase in size compared with those caught a year before, according to a wholesaler official.

This year¡¯s catches include sauries weighing more than 200 grams, which were the main size nine years ago at the former Tsukiji wholesale market in the capital¡¯s Chuo Ward.

¡°This season¡¯s sauries are fattier, and we can confidently recommend them,¡± said an intermediary wholesaler with a smile.

The wholesale price of saury stood at ?500 ($3.40) to ?1,000 per kilogram last week, less than one third of that of a year before, when the price jumped due to bad catches.

While poor saury catches are expected this year as well, a wholesaler official said, ¡°It¡¯s such a relief that bigger sauries have been caught.¡±

¡°We hope that more sauries will be landed in the best season of autumn.¡±