VOX POPULI: Overfishing could bring back old high prices

Yamaguchi Sodo (1642-1716) was an Edo Period (1603-1867) master haiku poet who penned this well-known piece: "Green leaves for the eyes/ Cuckoos in the mountains/ Hatsu-gatsuo (The season's first skipjack tuna)." According to haiku critics, Sodo played with fire in composing this haiku.

A haiku typically contains one kigo or seasonal reference. The use of more than one kigo is frowned upon as ki-kasanari, which literally means "duplicate kigo," and this is a mistake haiku novices are said to make inadvertently.

But Sodo's piece contains as many as three kigo--"green leaves," "cuckoos" and "the season's first skipjack tuna." While some haiku experts question considering "green leaves" as kigo, the fact still remains that Sodo did use more than one. Had an amateur written this haiku, he or she would probably have been criticized for his or her ignorance of the rules. But penned by a master, it has become the most quoted haiku for early summer.

Mention of the season's first katsuo must make many people's mouths water. Unfortunately, katsuo catches are said to be dwindling in the seas near Japan. Last year's haul came to only 60 percent of the level of the year before. Although the prospects for this year are reportedly better, I understand the fish tend to be small. There are various possible explanations, but overfishing is thought to be the most likely cause.

Skipjack tuna migrates north on the black current around this season. But because of the recent global fad for eating fish, Chinese and Taiwanese purse seine fishing vessels are operating in increasing numbers in the southern seas. If most of the fish are caught "upstream," so to speak, there will obviously be fewer fish "downstream." This is believed to be what is happening now.

Katsuo lovers must be feeling let down by their favorite fish. The ocean is a cradle of life, but nature's bounty is not infinite. We humans are said to have already exploited ocean resources to the extreme. The ocean is no longer able to keep providing the bounty it once did. Some scholars even warn that the seas may become barren by the middle of this century.

A haiku by Takarai Kikaku (1661-1707) goes: "The season's first skipjack tuna/ A koban gold coin on the cutting board." The fish fetched exhorbitant prices in old Edo (present-day Tokyo). The prices are not so terrible today, but they reportedly have been rising in recent years due to poor catches.

Some sort of timely action seems necessary to stop katsuo from going the way of maguro tuna.

--The Asahi Shimbun, May 17

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.