Release The Salmon

Each year during spawning season local fish hatcheries go down to the local rivers in Misawa and catch the fish as they swim up stream. This event is also treated as a big festival. I am looking forward to trying to grab one of those slippery suckers. Once the fish are caught the hatcheries remove and incubate the eggs. Apparently salmon eggs are at quite a risk in the wild and to keep up with demand the hatcheries are needed. So those salmon eggs spend the cold winter growing into cute little baby fish in the comfort of a monitored environment. In the spring it is time to release them into the rivers.

Our family was handed a bucket that had probably 2,000 of the squirmy little suckers. As we made our way to the river’s edge with that “black gold” we were very cautious not to drop any. The kids had great fun poring the fish into the river. Afterward they joined the Japanese school children and slid down the big salmon mural made of rock. Then we went to a local community center and they played Japanese games in the gym with the other children. They had such a great time. The Japanese ladies had prepared a traditional meal for the American families but unfortunately the room was too small to hold all of those in attendance. We decided to leave and make room for other families, but vowed to get to the dining room earlier next year to participate in the meal.