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Hatahata Fishing Ban
Early morning along the Unosaki seashore. Within a month hatahata will come to the coast to spawn 99.11.4/Temperature: 10C/ Weather: Partly cloudy / Wind Direction: NW
Current Location: Akita Prefectural Institute for Fisheries and Fisheries Management Oga City/ Latitude: 39 48 41 N / Longitude: 139 48 41E
Distance Traveled: 0 km (Rest day)What would you do if your favorite food was nearing extinction? How far would you go to bring it back? The Akita Prefecture Fishing Coop in cooperation with prefectural administrators, researchers, and local fishermen have taken quite drastic steps to bring hatahata (sandfish) back to the coastal fishing industry and onto local tables.
Hatahata has long been a part of tradition and culture in Akita. Mr. Sugiyama of the Akita Prefectural Institute for Fisheries and Fisheries Management said that Akita citizens can't celebrate the new year without eating hatahata. The Chinese characters that make-up 'hatahata' mean "fish" and "god". Each winter for generations, hatahata has played an important role in local economics, cultural and culinary practices.
Sunset along the Unosaki seashore. In the 1960's the total hatahata catch was as high as 20,000 tons. In following years the catch continued to fluctuate and in 1991 the catch reached an all-time low of 71 tons.
Amidst such a decrease in the total hatahata catch, fishing coop members, local fisherman, and government officials created a proposal which appears to have been successful. The proposal called for a total ban on fishing hatahata for three years.
I spent all of today speaking with staff at the Akita Prefectural Institute for Fisheries and Fisheries Management, a veteran fisherman, and visiting the local Fishing Coop. Tomorrow I will give a full report on how locals made the decision to ban fishing, what hurdles they overcame, how the ban has been effective, and what hurdles remain.
Till tomorrow.
Greg
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