The season began seven days later than last year. Juvenile sand eel catches in the Harima-nada Sea, part of the Seto Inland Sea off Akashi, Hyogo Prefecture, have been poor in recent years. According to the prefectural government, people involved in fisheries agreed to end this season's fishing the same day. This is the first time since 1970, the date of the earliest available records, that the season has ended in one day.