January 9, 2011- Sushi, Hai!!

    

You would think that living on an island in the South Pacific, we would have our fill our fish delicacies, such as sushi and sashimi, but it’s a rare evening that we have the fresh resources and necessary Asian ingredients to enjoy this treat. There was a time a few years back that you could get fresh fish on just about any given weekend, even if you weren’t the fisherman.  Just head down to the small boat marina between 5-6 pm on a Sunday or Monday, when the rental boats are due in and the privately owned boats were wrapping up for the day, and you could watch as the fish were gutted and cleaned, then purchase enough for a meal that night or to freeze and use for several meals over the next few weeks. If you were lucky, you’d find a friend down there who wouldn’t even take payment, and you had a nice chunk of Ahi Tuna or Ono that would cost a bundle at any restaurant, but you got it for free.

     I remember getting phone calls at home on days when I wasn’t even looking for fish from friendly fishermen who had such a good catch they had all they wanted and had trouble getting rid of the rest, so they began calling friends to take some of their hands.  It’s been a long time since I’ve had one of those calls.  Recently, though, our grocery store has been getting in frozen Ahi Tuna, defrosting it and cutting it into the perfect bite size pieces for sashimi (which is just plain raw fish, usually served with a delicious soy and Wasabi based dipping sauce) or for making sushi rolls.  As you can imagine, with the lack of fresh fish coming off the local recreational fishing boats, these trays of fish go fast! I saw some on Friday and by today, it was all gone, but they still had some large filets left in the frozen section, so we picked up a couple along with the staples of cucumber, rice, Nori (seaweed) paper, and avocados for making California rolls and tuna rolls. We even tried some with the meat from a bag of King crab legs I had in the freezer. It was totally worth the effort (well, I didn’t have to put much effort forth, but my boyfriend did-Sushi is not a quick and easy meal to put together). I, however, count my blessings for being lucky enough to have such a talented cook for a boyfriend and to be able to enjoy the fruits of his labor, as usual. Thank you, Honey! :) 

     I have often wondered about the decrease in fresh fish on the island in recent years, and when we arrived home from grocery shopping, a fisherman friend stopped by and saw the fish out on the counter as we were unloading our purchases, and he asked us to look on the package and see where it was coming from.  In return, I asked about how the fishing was going for him lately, and he mentioned that the recreational fishermen out here rarely catch anything these days due to the large fishing nets China has been allowed to put out since the Republic of the Marshall Islands government decided to let them fish their waters.  I was aware they had agreed to this, but not that it had already so vastly affected the waters near Kwajalein. This saddened me as the environment here has remained so pristine and unaffected by the pollution, reef damage, and over fishing that many other areas of the world suffer from.  It is still, compared to other waters, pristine and untouched by the ravishes that so often accompany the touch of mankind on remote, isolated areas, but it will eventually succumb to the way of the world, to consumerism, to westernization. It already has in many ways.  The gap between the rest of the world and all the tiny atolls in the Pacific is closing faster and faster.  It’s inevitable...the world gets smaller and smaller with each passing decade.  This is all the more reason to enjoy the remoteness of island life while we still can.