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Reuters

Entertainment

By Kantaro Komiya

Fatty 'katsuo' fish may foreshadow climate change, threat to Japan's sushi

Kim KyungHoon Japan Fish Climate Change Kochi Tokyo

Crew members on the Nakajomaru katsuo (skipjack tuna) fishing boat catch katsuo using traditional ipponzuri (single pole fishing method), in Tosa Bay, Kochi Prefecture, Japan, May 15, 2022. Locals and experts say fatty katsuo indicates climate change and a risk for the fish numbers already under threat due to growing demand and overfishing. It "must have something to do with the water temperature," captain Takeo Nakajo, 70, said. "I have a sense of urgency thinking what if katsuo doesn't come to the bay some day." REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

For half a century, Takeo Nakajo has been catching katsuo, or skipjack tuna - indispensable in Japanese cuisine whether eaten raw, dried or used as a base for the broth.

But he and other fishermen in Kure, in Kochi prefecture in southwest Japan, have seen something worrying in the past two years - an unprecedented number of unusually fatty katsuo.

Takeo Nakajo, 70, captain of the Nakajomaru fishing boat, uses a radio while searching for a katsuo (skipjack tuna) fish school in Tosa Bay, Kochi Prefecture, Japan, May 15, 2022. Locals and experts say fatty katsuo indicates climate change and a risk for the fish numbers already under threat due to growing demand and overfishing. It "must have something to do with the water temperature," Nakajo said. "I have a sense of urgency thinking what if katsuo doesn't come to the bay some day." REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

While heavier katsuo means more money, locals and experts say it indicates climate change and a risk for katsuo numbers already under threat due to growing demand and overfishing.

"The fatty katsuo must have something to do with the water temperature," said the 70-year-old Nakajo. "I have a sense of urgency thinking what if katsuo doesn't come to the bay some day." (Photo essay:

Noriaki Ito, the head chef at a century-old restaurant Tsukasa in Kochi City, said he too had "never seen such fatty katsuo during this season of the year".

Noriaki Ito, 57, head chef of 106 year-old restaurant Tsukasa, prepares to cut raw katsuo (skipjack tuna), in Kochi, Kochi Prefecture, Japan, May 13, 2022. Ito affirms it is getting more common for this unusual fat to show in fish during spring. "Never seen such fatty katsuo during this season of the year," he said. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

This is worrying as changes in the sea and climate have already wiped out some other fish "including a shellfish called chambara-gai that used to be Kochi's speciality", Ito added.

Originally from tropical waters, some Pacific katsuo migrate northward on a warm ocean current every spring, making Kochi's arc-shaped bay a fertile fishing ground.

The average surface temperature of the bay in winter has risen by 2 degrees Celsius in the four decades to 2015, local fisheries lab data shows, and the fatter katsuo may be due to ample prey in the warmer sea.

Noriaki Ito, 57, head chef of 106 year-old restaurant Tsukasa, puts wasabi on a piece of raw katsuo (skipjack tuna), in Kochi, Kochi Prefecture, Japan, May 13, 2022. Ito affirms it is getting more common for this unusual fat to show in fish during spring. "Never seen such fatty katsuo during this season of the year," he said. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

But longer term, this warming may prevent mineral-rich water from rising to the surface, resulting in a drop in plankton and smaller fish to feed on, leading to fewer katsuo, said Hiroyuki Ukeda, an agroscientist and vice president of Kochi University.

This comes as Japan's ageing population is threatening the sustainability of local fishing and related businesses such as the production of dried and fermented katsuo, and wasabi horseradish - an eye-watering condiment tucked under fish in a piece of sushi.

In Kure, a district in Nakatosa town, many fishermen have gone out of business in the past three decades, said Takahiro Tanaka, a fourth-generation owner of a fishmonger who calls himself a "katsuo sommelier".

A worker pours water on boxes filled with katsuo (skipjack tuna), before a wholesale auction at Kure Port, in Nakatosa Town, Kochi Prefecture, Japan, May 14, 2022. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

"We can distinguish different tastes of katsuo, just like ordinary French farmers may savour subtleties of wine ... this place might be one of Japan's last communities where katsuo is part of the daily culture," he added.

"But without fishers, this won't last," Tanaka said.

Fisherman Nakajo also rued the ageing community and fewer successors. "I asked my grandson if he would take over, but he's now studying to work at a government office," Nakajo said.

Takeo Nakajo, 70, captain of the Nakajomaru katsuo (skipjack tuna) fishing boat, eats breakfast with his crew before work, in Tosa Bay, Kochi Prefecture, Japan, May 15, 2022. Locals and experts say fatty katsuo indicates climate change and a risk for the fish numbers already under threat due to growing demand and overfishing. It "must have something to do with the water temperature," Nakajo said. "I have a sense of urgency thinking what if katsuo doesn't come to the bay some day." REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

SUSHI CULTURE AT RISK

Overfishing has already hit catch numbers and dealt a blow to the fishermen in Kochi who have stuck to traditional single pole fishing methods versus large-scale seine fishing across the western Pacific.

Government data shows catch numbers in Kochi are only at a quarter of their 1980s peak.

Katsuo (skipjack tuna) are kept in ice during a wholesale auction at Kure Port, in Nakatosa Town, Kochi Prefecture, Japan, May 14, 2022. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

"We have observed a catastrophic decline in landings over the last 10 years or so," said Ukeda.

"A growing number of people fear we may no longer be able to eat katsuo in the near future if things continue like this."

Production of katsuobushi, dried and fermented katsuo, often used as a shaved condiment over traditional Japanese dishes or as a broth base, is already suffering.

A group of workers make fillets of katsuo (skipjack tuna) for katsuobushi, at the Takeuchi Ltd katsuobushi factory in Usa Town, Tosa, Kochi Prefecture, Japan, May 16, 2022. Katsuobushi (smoke-dried katsuo) is essential to Japanese cuisine, but the number of its manufacturers in Kochi has plunged in forty years from dozens to only a few. "I'm really unsure if we can continue this," said managing director Taichi Takeuchi, 36. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

The number of katsuobushi manufacturers in Kochi has plunged from dozens some forty years ago to only a few, said Taichi Takeuchi, who runs one in the town of Usa.

"I'm really unsure if we can continue this," said Takeuchi.

Wasabi, the tangy horseradish that is an essential for Japanese food, especially sashimi and sushi, is facing similar production challenges.

Kousuke Masaoka, 37, crew member on the Nakajomaru fishing boat, catches a katsuo (skipjack tuna) using traditional ipponzuri (single pole fishing method), in Tosa Bay, Kochi Prefecture, Japan, May 15, 2022. Locals and experts say fatty katsuo indicates climate change and a risk for the fish numbers already under threat due to growing demand and overfishing. It "must have something to do with the water temperature," captain Takeo Nakajo, 70, said. "I have a sense of urgency thinking what if katsuo doesn't come to the bay some day." REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

Typhoons and rising temperatures have hurt production in Okutama, a mountainous area to the west of Tokyo, said Masahiro Hoshina, 72, head of the local wasabi growers' association.

"I am extremely worried about the future of our farming," Hoshina said.

The number of farmers in the area is down 75% from the 1950s due to depopulation, and unless something changes, some worry sushi itself could be endangered.

Wasabi Farmer, Masahiro Hoshina, 72, grates a harvested wasabi root on a slat for his lunch, at his house in Okutama Town, Tokyo, Japan, May 30, 2022. Hoshina is the head of the local wasabi farmers association. "The combination of raw fish and spice, as in katsuo and wasabi, is an art, and we must maintain both," said Ukeda. "I never want to think about a future" without them, he added. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

"The combination of raw fish and spice, as in katsuo and wasabi, is an art, and we must maintain both," said Ukeda. "I never want to think about a future" without them, he added.

(Corrects name in paragraph 8, Hiroyuki Ukeda not Hideyuki Ukeda)

(Reporting by Kantaro Komiya in Nakatosa; Additional reporting by Kim Kyung-hoon and Irene Wang; Editing by Elaine Lies and Himani Sarkar)