The ayu is highly prized for its flavour, mostly consumed in
East Asia. Its flesh is distinctively sweet, with "melon and cucumber aromas". The main methods for obtaining ayu are by means of
fly fishing, by using a
fish trap, and by fishing with a decoy which is known as
ayu-no-tomozuri in Japan. The decoy is a living ayu placed on a hook, which swims when immersed into water. It provokes the territorial behavior of other ayu, which assault the "intruder" and get caught. The ayu is also caught by
cormorant fishing. The
practice on the Nagara River, where
Japanese cormorants (
Phalacrocorax capillatus) are used, draws visitors from all over the world. The Japanese cormorants, known in Japanese as
umi-u (ウミウ, "sea-cormorant"), are domesticated birds trained for this purpose. The bird catches the ayu, stores it in its
crop, and delivers it to the fishermen. Ayu is also fished commercially, and captive juveniles are raised in
aquaculture before being released into rivers for sport fishing. In
Japanese cuisine, a common method of preparing ayu (among other small fish) is to fold their bodies in a wave-like "swimming" shape, then
skewer. The fish is then grilled with salt over charcoal to preserve the natural flavor of the fish. == Gallery ==