Utoro fishing port - Watching salmon being unloaded at Salmon Terrace

26 August 2023

One thing Hokkaido is best known for is its seafood which includes salmon and ikura (the fresh salmon roe). Eight varieties of salmon are caught in the Shiretoko marine area, with chum salmon and pink salmon being the most common.

Visiting Shiretoko during late August presented us with an opportunity to see salmon being landed at the Utoro Fishing Port and I seized it immediately. I could still remember the thrill of witnessing tuna being landed and auctioned off in Ki-Kasuura’s fishing port during my previous Kumano Kodo trip.  

We woke early on this day as we had lots of activities planned in Shiretoko National Park. Before heading into Shiretoko National Park, we made a stop at Utoro Fishing Port where there is a rooftop viewing area called the Utoro Salmon Terrace.                                

I had read that during the salmon season, visitors could see fishing boats unloading freshly caught salmon and other fishes directly below from around 7 to 10 AM in the morning if the weather is good.

We arrived at the car park located on the second floor of the Salmon Terrace at about 7.10 am. There were a few boats moored silently below but no activity was in sight.

Perhaps we were too early for the salmon season which is in autumn. We saw some salmon at the Onnebetsu River on our way to Utoro the day before but not a lot.

                                Silent boats moored at Utoro Fishing Port.

There was not much that we could do at the quiet Salmon Terrace except to snap some photos of Utoro harbour and Oronko Rock.

Oronko Rock and Utoro harbour as seen from the Salmon Terrance.

Zoomed in photo of the gulls resting on the water.

Utoro harbour with part of the L-shaped Salmon Terrace viewable and Shiretoko Mountain range in the back.

Iruka Hotel(biege colour building) next to the large rock formation which was the back of Gamera Rock.

Just when we were about to leave feeling disappointed, I took a moment to snap a photo of Iruka Hotel (our hotel in Utoro), facing the entrance of the harbour.

That was when I spotted one fishing boat approaching from the sea.

Then a second one appeared!

It looked like we are in luck and could see some action after all.

We waited in excitement as both boats entered and circled round the harbour before mooring on the wharf right below us.

First boat circling round the harbour.

Boat with crane raised and cargo secured. All ready to be unloaded even before the boat was moored.

Bird’s eye view of the salmon landing from the 2nd floor. There is even a wooden bench for the kids and “not so tall” to have a better view.

Fishing in the waters around Utoro is mainly done using set nets. After capture, the fish are cooled in ice as they are transferred to port.

Massive hauls of huge fish unloaded by crane.

The fish are scooped from boats in nets or bags onto a large sorting table. As the salmon were being unloaded from the main bins, they are sorted into various baskets by size, sex (female salmon is prized for their roe) and other qualities.         

Sorting table full of unloaded salmon and other fishes.

This catch being landed is not as big as those I saw in the internet.

The prized salmon and larger fishes were picked from the sorting table first.

Crate full of salmon.

Then the remaining fishes like sting rays are collected.                                    

Workers collecting small rays into a plastic basket.

These rays are not very big.

        

Crates with flounder and puffer fish.

 
The fishermen worked fast, like a well drilled F1 team. This is vital to ensure that the fish are shipped at the height of their freshness. Fish rots fast in the heat of the morning sun. Summer has been extraordinary hot this year in Japan and Asia.

The baskets of fish were quickly weighed, cooled in ice and loaded into wholesalers' trucks.

We did not witness any auctioning. These were probably done beforehand. In most cases, brokers bid on the catch by boatload.

The catch is transported by trucks to nearby processing plants.

Weighing the baskets with different types of fishes before packing them in ice.

The boat crew quickly washes their boat and the sorting table once all the fish were unloaded and sorted.

Clean up in progress.

Flushing away the blood and slime from the sorting table.

Second boat unloading their catch.

Soon after the boats were washed and departed the harbour for their next sortie. The whole salmon landing process took about 10 minutes!

First boat leaving for the next sortie.

Jellyfish remains floats near the surface of the sea after the boats departed. The gulls show no interest in the jellyfishes.

What we saw was probably only a small catch. It is not unusual for daily catch exceeding 500 tons to be landed at this port. While fisherman took out so much from the sea, it is good to learn that the region has devoted energy to salmon hatching and release programs to achieve stable catches while preserving the natural environment.