Hokkaido is an island across the Sea of Japan situated not so far from the mouth of the Samarga river. It has a few large rivers with a drainage area comparable to that of the Samraga, but its wild cherry salmon stock is very small. Nevertheless, we wanted to take pictures of real Japanese cherry salmon for this first volume of our skill information series. The Daichi group worked hard and made an arrangement for three of us to go together, including a student volunteer from the Chiba University of Commerce, to visit a small fishing community still catching cherry salmon during the month of May.

As shown in the map, the Niikup fishery cooperative of Hokkaido has a setnet site off the southwestern shore of Hokkaido (blue arrow on the map), and during the spring month of April and May, migrating cherry salmon are caught by this setnet. After cherry salmon, comes a short summer chum salmon season peaking during June which is an important fishery for this cooperative because chums caught at this time of the year usually command much higher prices than in the fall when most of Japan's chum runs occur. The fish caught are taken from the setnet onto a pickup boat and delivered to the coop's auction market, where the catches are auctioned to the highest bidders in the early morning auction whenever various species of fish are caught and delivered fresh by the member fishermen.

The distance from the setnet site and the location of the auction market is about the same as it is the case for the Agzu fishermen, or the guest sportfishermen, to catch the fish off the river mouth and come back to Agzu with the catch. The fish are very carefully handled from the time they are taken out of the setnet in order to maintain the highest possible quality, and therefore, the best possible auction prices. Just as it is the case for the Hokkaido fishermen, you in Agzu can also gain or lose value between the fishing ground and Agzu depending on how you handle your fish.

I cannot overemphasize the importance of careful fish handling because you spend the same time and labor, but your income can be very different. The greater care taken on the fishing ground and en route back to Agzu, the better the quality of fish and the higher their potential value in the market. I want you to get used to a good practice in fish business using the ecotour business as the training opportunity for your Commune members in preparation for the future commercial undertaking. If you know how to do things in the right way, there are many good business possibilities.

The cherry salmon is a very delicate fish covered with small and fragile scales. If badly handled, they can lose much of the scale, reducing the market value. One of the worst thing you can do to a cherry salmon is to grab it by the tail and throw it in so that fish hits the boat bottom hard. Any other rough handling of the fish can easily bruise them often causing internal bleeding. You may not see it from outside, but when dressed later, it shows up as a dark spot in the meat, seriously reducing the value.

It is recommended, as shown by the illustration, that you have some sort of a fish box, or at least a flat and smooth bottom with low sides, so that fish can be neatly stored on the boat with wet burlap (coarse and heavy cloth) to keep fish from the sunshine, heat, and wind. Care must be taken to keep the fish as cool as possible. Never let their skin go dry or exposed to heat of the sun before you deliver them to Agzu. Again, when you deliver fish to a point in Agzu, same kind of gentle handling is essential so as to retain the value you so carefully guarded until then. As to how fish should be received at the processing point, please read the second chapter [How to store, dress, salt, and custom-pack the fish at the processing site in Agzu].

It is recommended, if possible, that you have a wooden fish box like this on your boat to store the fish. Its size is up to you and the size of your boat, but make sure it has a flat floor and water will easily leak out from the bottom. You can make use of an already made wooden box if available, or else, you can build your own fish box with cut lumber. This will help you keep the fish in good condition between the time they are caught until you deliver them to the processing point in Agzu.

Gently place the fish in it and always keep the fish covered by a wet burlap, or some other heavy cloth. The purpose is to keep the fish shielded from the sun and wind. Do not overload the box with too many fish because the fish weight will damage the ones at the bottom. If the box is small, use it just for the good fish you want to save in fine condition for custom-processing and -packing.