🍱 Kounago no Kugini

The “Kounago”, which is said to be the fish that heralds spring, is another name for the “Ikanago”. In Mie Prefecture, it is called” Kounago “exclusively. Originally, “Kounago” used to be made into” Kama-Age” or “Chirimen” generally, but after ” Kounago -Tsukudani” (food boiled down in soy sauce) was first made in Kobe in 1935, and then the purchase of raw kounago, which was used as ingredients of “Tsukudani”, spread from Kobe to Mie Prefecture, and Tsukudani was also made in Mie Prefecture. Unlike juvenile Sardines (“Jako”),” Kounago” fish is long and slender, so “Kounago- Tsukudani” is called “Kugi-ni'”("nail stew") because when it is boiled it becomes bent and looks like a rusty nail. Originally, fishermen in Mie and Aichi prefectures consulted with each other to determine the date when the ban would be lifted and began fishing, but through the 1950s, the catch of “Kounago” became extremely low, and the fishermen began to strictly limit their catch. Since it is absolutely necessary to prevent the decline in the number of parent fish due to overfishing, efforts are being made by the government, fishery officials, processing and distribution companies, researchers, and government officials to protect the kounago, which is a springtime delicacy. However, in the past few years, the stock has declined so drastically that fishing has been banned, and the few remaining parent fish are being protected, waiting for the stock to recover.