SHIGA, Jun 06 (News On Japan) –
The catch of ayu, a fish lengthy thought of a delicacy and regional staple of Lake Biwa, has fallen to a report low, prompting native fisheries to name on the Shiga prefectural authorities for pressing motion.
The annual peak season for ayu fishing sometimes begins in December with the opening of the “yana” fishing technique. However, this 12 months has introduced an alarming decline.
“Ayu are few and far between. This is the worst it’s ever been,” mentioned Kimura Tsuneo, a director on the Kitafunaki Fisheries Cooperative. “We used to catch about 500 kilograms a day with a single trap. Now we’re getting just 10 to 20 kilograms at best.”
In one other conventional technique often called “eri” fishing, which makes use of fastened web constructions to funnel fish, the outcomes have been equally dismal.
“They’re completely gone,” mentioned Teruyo, the spouse of fisherman Mitamura Susumu.
“You can’t even sense they’re there anymore,” added Mitamura.
Asked the way it seemed throughout ample years, Mitamura mentioned, “The nets would be thrashing with fish jumping everywhere.”
“Now, catching even one kilogram is a struggle. With fuel costs, it’s barely worth going out.”
Ayu have traditionally accounted for 40 to 50 p.c of the entire fish catch in Lake Biwa, forming the spine of Shiga’s fishing trade. But over the previous decade, numbers have steadily declined. This 12 months’s catch has dropped to only 17.6 tons—the bottom on report—threatening not simply livelihoods but in addition native meals traditions.
“Our cauldrons are usually boiling with ayu and wakasagi,” mentioned Tamura Aiko, president of Tamura Freshwater. “But this year, there’s been no ayu since January. We haven’t cooked a single batch.”
One conventional dish particularly affected is tsukudani, simmered lake fish in soy sauce and sugar, generally made with younger ayu. Production has come to a halt as a result of lack of uncooked substances.
According to Shiga Prefecture’s fisheries division, the first reason for the poor harvest is final 12 months’s excessive warmth, which raised lake water temperatures and prevented them from cooling to acceptable spawning ranges in autumn. Additionally, a scarcity of plankton meant that many larvae couldn’t develop after hatching.
In response, native fishery teams and trade stakeholders submitted a proper request for countermeasures to Governor Mikazuki this week, together with the discharge of grownup ayu.
“We are considering how to effectively utilize artificial rivers and conduct targeted fish releases,” mentioned Governor Mikazuki Taizo.
The prefecture can also be planning to increase spawning grounds in cooler rivers and time the discharge of hatchlings to align with falling water temperatures.
“The climate is the biggest factor,” mentioned Kimura. “It really feels like Lake Biwa is becoming an increasingly inhospitable place for fish.”
Source: YOMIURI