North Korean attempts to sell seafood on the Chinese black market have not been going well recently, Daily NK has learned. One of the primary reasons for the slump in demand for seafood inside China is Japan’s release of radioactive water from Fukushima.
A Chinese source told Daily NK on Sept. 22 that North Korea is still trying to sell seafood — including blue crab, mackerel, sea bass and horned turban (a kind of sea snail) — to Chinese smugglers.
The illicit trade in seafood is actually being orchestrated by regional seafood exporters under the authority of North Korea’s Ministry of Fisheries. But Chinese buyers are balking at the absurdly high seafood prices the North Koreans are quoting, the source said.
For example, one North Korean seafood exporter had contacted Chinese seafood smugglers and offered to sell them one ton of blue crabs for RMB 40,000 (around KRW 7.27 million).
But the price of blue crabs has plummeted because of this year’s bountiful haul. Currently, one kilogram of blue crabs is selling for RMB 10-20 (around KRW 1,800-3,600) at a seafood market in China’s Liaoning Province. That would be around RMB 10,000-20,000 (KRW 1.8-3.6 million) per ton.
As recently as last year’s blue crab fishing season, the wholesale price in China reached RMB 50,000-60,000 (KRW 9-10.92 million) per ton. But consumer demand for seafood in China has contracted following Japan’s discharge of radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant, driving down the price of blue crabs, the source explained.
In ignorance of these developments, North Korean exporters have basically been asking for twice as much as market prices in China today.
North Korean seafood exporters have also attempted to sell other kinds of seafood, including mackerel and horned turbans, to Chinese black market buyers for more than the Chinese market price.
The price that North Korean exporters recently offered Chinese buyers for mackerel was RMB 15-25 (around KRW 2,700-4,500) per kilogram. But the source noted that mackerel actually sells for less than that at markets in Northeast China: RMB 10-20 (around KRW 3,600) per kilogram.
While the local price for horned turbans in China is RMB 20 (around KRW 1,800-3,600) per kilogram, North Korean exporters asked for RMB 40-50 (around KRW 7,200-9,000), or more than twice as much, for the same amount of snails.
“Seafood prices have been falling in China since Japan began dumping radioactive water into the ocean, which has led to a marked decline in revenue for members of the fishing industry. North Korean seafood was popular until last year because of high demand and wide distribution. But now prices are too high, and Chinese businesspeople aren’t keen on buying North Korean seafood if that means losing money,” the source said.
North Korea had strictly prohibited local fishermen from engaging in their trade as part of COVID-19 measures, but since May fishermen in Cholsan County and other areas have been allowed to resume work in the Yellow Sea.
Now that fishermen are back at work, there has been a bump in black market deals by seafood exporters. But falling demand for seafood in China and the accompanying drop in prices suggest that North Korean seafood smuggling will not go smoothly for some time to come.
Translated by David Carruth. Edited by Robert Lauler.
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