The importance of the buyers – saury professionals

The fishing industry of Miyagi is No. 2 in Japan, following Hokkaido. There are many famous fishing ports such as Ishinomaki and Kesennuma, and these ports provide us with many kinds of seafood.

On this occasion, we visited Onagawa fishing market. The specialty of Onagawa is, needless to say, saury, a seasonal delicacy of fall. Other fishing ports of Miyagi have different specialties; Kesennuma is famous for pole-and-line bonito, Ishinomaki offers a wide variety of fish caught using ground haul netting, and Shiogama has large landings of tuna, caught in the nearby sea. The fishing boats arrive at the ports, and the fish is sold to the buyers via the fish market. In every fishing port, there are buyers who specialize in each kind of fish.

”Onagawa buys at the highest price”, a fisherman told me. The buyers at Onagawa purchase at higher prices than other fishing ports. So most of the saury fishing boats head for Onagawa. Of course, the buyers at Onagawa are very strict connoisseurs of saury. Each fishing boat tries their best to land the freshest fish, so Onagawa has the best quality of saury. Onagawa ranks among the top 3 in saury landings in the nation.

Gradually adding facilities after the natural disaster

Onagawa used to be a very big fish market, with sales of 17 billion yen per year, but sales gradually declined as eating habits of the Japanese changed. Fish was not being consumed as much, and this had a serious effect on sales. On top of that the Great East Japan Earthquake happened, greatly impacting Onagawa.
According to Kato, the senior managing director of Onagawa Fish Market, who showed us around, ”we lost everything”.
After the disaster, the market reopened somehow, and the fish landings have resumed little by little. However, what was most needed was the refrigerating facilities. Only 30% of the fish landed at Onagawa Port is shipped to other ports as fresh fish. The remaining 70% must be kept frozen for later processing. Therefore large capacity refrigeration system is absolutely essential.
The town was hard hit by the quake, and lost the refrigerating facilities, and landings had to be limited in 2011.

At the time of the visit, the facilities were being re-built little by little. There was construction to build the biggest pier. In October 2012, a large storage facility was built with support from Qatar.
We were shown the brand new facility, and noticed that it was designed to serve as a shelter in case of an emergency, based on lessons learned from the tsunami. Most importantly, the facility was designed to protect lives, so that people can work safely in the coastal areas.

The most delicious way to eat saury fish

“We were able to reopen thanks to the support from all around the nation. We are ever so grateful. But, you know, the best support is having consumers enjoy our fish.” said Kato. So Nakata asked, ”what’s the most delicious way to eat saury?”. ”Sashimi”, he replied.
””Sashimi ”is definitely the best. The fish is so fresh. It tastes better than tuna ”sashimi”! Also, you can chop it in small pieces and mix with green onion and ”miso”, that’s delicious too.”
Hearing him talk made our mouths water. The most basic dish may be grilled saury, and that’s good too, but minced fish balls in soup is also a favorite of the locals. The season for saury runs from early September till late November. There are many people waiting for this delicacy Onagawa is so proud of.

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Tokyo Bay at sunrise

Nakata goes on board a fishing boat just as the sun rises in Tokyo Bay. When we requested an interview with Yoshiyuki Saida, a conger eel fisherman belonging to Yokohama Fishermen’s Union Shiba Branch, he invited us to go fishing with him. Saida employs a method called ”tsusu-ryo” to catch the eels. He inserts feed such as sardines and squid into a grey tube then sinks them to the bottom of the ocean, and the eels are drawn to the smell of the feed. On the boat, Nakata helped pull the tubes up from the ocean.
In order to preserve the environment, the fishing gear have small holes in them to avoid catching the smaller eels. A surprising number of eels are caught even with the holes.
”How do you choose where to set the traps?” Nakata asked a basic question.
”I check the size and the number of eels caught and plan the next location. I make a prediction based on everyday experience,” Saida told us.
By the time they have retrieved all the traps, the sun had risen high up in the sky.

The appeal of being a fishermen

”What do you like about being a fisherman?” asked Nakata. ”I’m the most excited when I catch fish where I set the trap based on my experience.” ”There are times I don’t catch any fish at all, and it feels like failing a test. But I like the ocean, so just being on the boat makes me happy. That’s what I like the most.” he told us as he looked out to the sea.
Saida was born in a fishing town where he grew up around boats. He would ride a small motorboat and race with friends. At any rate, he grew up surrounded by the ocean.
”Even if you run into problems and get stuck out at sea, people all come to your rescue because they all grew up around the same harbor.”

Hot and fluffy ”shiroyaki”

As soon as they go ashore, ”We’ll get these eels grilled into a ’shiroyaki’ right away,” Saida said as he cut the eel. The skin glistens golden and the meat is beautifully white. He handed the meat to Nakata. ”It’s soft!” Nakata is surprised. Freshly cut eel is soft. According to Saida, eel from Tokyo Bay is especially soft.
We immediately have the eel grilled into ”shiroyaki” and took a bite. The eel fresh from the grill was hot and fluffy. ”The texture is entirely different from fresh water eel but it’s still very good,” commented Nakata looking quite satisfied.
Saida’s eels are served at NPO ”Community Cafe Sakura Chaya” and other local eateries, and are served as ”shiroyaki” or ”anago-don.” We highly recommend you give Tokyo Bay conger eel dishes a try.

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Gifts from the sea in the San’in region

What comes to your mind as winter seafood?
Oyster, yellowtail, monkfish, or puffer fish? They are typical winter food and ingredients of very popular hot pot. There is another important seafood in winter: Matsuba crab. Hyogo boasts Japan’s largest catch of Matsuba crab in terms of volume and value.

Origin of Matsuba Crab

Matsuba crab is generally called ”zuwai-gani” in Japan. The name is specific to the San’in region spreading from Shimane to Kyoto. The male crab caught in the Sea of Japan has been called ”Matsuba crab” since the olden days.

Crowded market

Nakata visited the market on a nice spring day in March. The fishing season for Matsuba crabs is from November 6 to March 20. The season was almost finished. Unfortunately, we could not get on a boat to have a look the actual fishing. However, we visited the market to see an auction of unloaded crabs.
”Matsuba” (matsuba means pine leaf in Japanese) crab is said to have been named after the long thin legs that look like pine leaves. Numerous crabs were placed with the belly up on the floor of the market. The bidding went fast, which itself was rather overwhelming. When all the deals were done, crabs were carried to restaurants and processing plants all over Japan.
You can visit auctions operated by Tajima Fishery Cooperative and Hamasaka-cho Fishery Cooperatives. Visitors can purchase crabs directly from the fishery cooperatives. Come to discover the vigorous market auction and Matsuba crabs.

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