Asahi Shimbun reporters dive into a net outside the town of Rausu on the eastern side of Hokkaido’s Shiretoko Peninsula. The early October dive coincided with the peak time for fixed line salmon fishing.
RAUSU, Hokkaido—Set net fishing for salmon, where nets are dropped along migrating fish routes, is at its seasonal peak off the Shiretoko Peninsula on the eastern tip of Japan’s northernmost main island.
Asahi Shimbun reporters dove into a net in early October off the coast of the town of Rausu.
Within the net, divers saw schools of salmon, fully grown after years in the open sea.
A recent fisheries catch report says 352,313 salmon heads were caught in the Rausu at the end of September – a booming 80 percent more than the 2023 haul.
However, catches are still poor in many areas, and the total catch from all regions of Hokkaido is down about 20 percent on average from last year, sources said.
In addition to salmon, fish of various species were also seen inside the set net on the day of the reporters’ dive.
Mackerel and spotted skate, a rock species usually boiled, accounted for many of them.
Flounder, a species of flatfish usually enjoyed dried, was also seen tightly packed at the bottom of the net.
“Sometimes you can even see sunfish and mahi-mahi inside set nets,” says Katsunori Seki, head of Shiretoko Diving Co. “The charm of diving with a fixed net is that you can meet fish that migrate offshore.”
