tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3191835248953933738.post7424230320598481950..comments2023-11-24T16:34:16.891-08:00Comments on WASHOKU - Japanese Food Culture and Cuisine: Toyama PrefectureGabi Grevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16362456518166174106noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3191835248953933738.post-79527633472612428092011-05-05T19:21:06.191-07:002011-05-05T19:21:06.191-07:00Japan's Toyama Bay: Working to Restore the Lin...Japan's Toyama Bay: Working to Restore the Links between Forests, Rivers, and the Sea<br /><br />Toyama Bay, a "Natural Fish Tank"<br /><br />Toyama Bay is a large bay on the east side of the Noto Peninsula, which projects into the Sea of Japan in west-central Japan. Known for its wide variety of fish, Toyama Bay has been dubbed "a natural fish tank," because throughout the year many kinds of kitokito-no fish (meaning "very fresh" in Toyama's local dialect) are caught and then unloaded from ships at bustling fishing ports along the coast of the bay, such as Uozu, Shinminato, and Himi.<br /><br />The coastal shelf in Toyama Bay is small, and the sea floor drops sharply a short distance from the land, with the deepest parts of the bay being more than 1,200 meters deep. Into the surface seawater of the bay, warm-water fish species are carried by the warm Tsushima current, while in the deep seawater at a depth of over 300 meters coldwater fish species live in the much cooler waters of the Japan Sea (deep seawater) at a temperature of around two degrees Celsius. Thus, Toyama Bay has an environment where both warm- and cold-water marine life can exist, and thus it is a treasure trove of marine resources.<br /><br />Seventy percent of the total fish catch is comprised of migratory warm- water fish such as tuna and yellowtail, while the rest includes many kinds of deep-water fish and shellfish such as sweet shrimp, benizuwai crab, Japanese ivory shell, firefly squid, and white shrimp. Rare firefly squid and white shrimp are particularly valuable marine resources that are rarely found in areas other than Toyama Bay. Every spring, a large number of the tiny squids come to the coast from waters more than 200 meters deep for spawning. The mysterious pale blue light emitted by the squids in the night sea when they are caught is a common spring sight in Toyama Bay.<br /><br />more<br />http://www.japanfs.org/en/mailmagazine/newsletter/pages/030228.htmlanonymoushttp://www.japanfs.org/en/mailmagazine/newsletter/pages/030228.htmlnoreply@blogger.com