The potential for a shortage has produced anxiety here among consumers, fishermen, wholesalers, and retailers.
“We may not have as much fish. In terms of quality, I don’t know how it’s going to compare to what we normally have,’’ said Brooks Takenaka, assistant general manager at United Fishing Agency, which runs Honolulu’s fish auctions.
The tradition began with Japanese immigrants who arrived here a century ago to work on the sugar plantations but has since spread to the numerous other ethnic groups. The custom in Japan is to eat tai, or sea bream, for good luck. But this fish isn’t found in waters around Hawaii so the immigrants substituted ahi, or tuna.
Clarence Gonsalves said he’s never had a New Year’s without tuna. “It’s a tradition in Hawaii,’’ said the 76-year-old retired supermarket meat cutter.
This year the outlook is not so clear. Those responsible for managing fish stocks believe fishermen must curtail their bigeye catch to protect the species, which is prized around the world for sashimi, or raw fish.
Environmentalists say people are catching so much bigeye in the Western Pacific that the fish are close to the point where they won’t be able to reproduce fast enough to replace what’s caught. The situation is already that dire in the Eastern Pacific.
Last December, the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission, an international body that regulates commercial fishing from Indonesia to Hawaii, concluded the bigeye catch must be slashed 30 percent in its waters. To do their share, the 130 boats in the Hawaii-based longline fishing fleet must slice their bigeye yield by 10 percent compared with what they caught in 2004.
The National Marine Fisheries Service will give fishermen seven days notice before it prohibits taking more bigeye, Graham said.
Traders will likely try to fill any supply gaps by importing bigeye from outside Hawaii. Many locals, however, prefer the ahi caught by the Hawaii-based fleet.
