客：くじらに続いて、マグロが槍玉にあがっていますね。
すしや：すしやからマグロが消える日が、いつか来るのでしょうかね。
Yari-dama ni Ageru
Kyaku: Kujira ni tsuzuite, maguro ga yari-dama ni agatte imasu ne.
Sushi-ya: Sushi-ya kara maguro ga kieru hi ga, itsuka kuru no deshoo ka ne.
Customer: They circled out the whale and now tuna is the butt of attack.
Sushi shop
owner: Yes, looks like the day might come when you won't be able to eat tuna at a sushi shop.
* * *
Yari-dama ni ageru means to mjke an example of, to single out someone or something for criticism or punishment, to make a person or thing the object or butt of attack. It's a transitive verb. Yari-dama ni agaru is the intransitive form. The phrase gets its figurative meaning because it literally means to pierce a person with a spear or lance.
The signatories to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), also called the Washington Convention, are holding their eigth meeting this week and next in Kyoto. The convention was first convened in 1973 to establish ways to protect various plants and animals. It does this by maintaining three appendices listing species according to their degree of being in danger. Appendix I includes species in danger of extinction such as right whales, blue whales, sea turtles and red arowanas, a species of small tropical fish. Some countries are now proposing that the western population of the great blue fin tuna also be listed in Appendix I.
When I was in elementary school in the late 1950s, we were often served a school lunch consisting of whale meat, bread and skim milk from America. Zetsu- metsu no osore ga aru toshite kujira ga yari-dama ni agatta no wa, nan nen mae datta daro ka. (I wonder how long ago whales were made an example of because they were considered to be in danger of extinction?) Most Japanese today (not all, of course)
probably agree that the capture of whales should be prohibited , Tuna, however, is something else. Appendix II of CITES covers trade in certain species only with CITES export permits. Some species listed here are the elephant seal, the cape penguin and the so-called living fossil, the Coelacanth. Is blue fin tuna really in more serious danger of extinction than the Coelacanth? Some involved in the fishing industry say, "It's for other reasons that tuna is being singled out for attack (Maguro ga yari-dama ni agerareta genin wa, hoka no tokoro ni arimasu yo)." According to the Federation of Japan Tuna Fisheries Cooperation Associa- tion, "From 1960 to 1970 Americans caught small- and medium-size tuna indiscriminately for use in canned tuna. That's why their number decreased so much.
Since the regulations were put in effect, though, breeding stocks have rebounded. So, ima, yari-dama ni agerareru riyu ga shiritai desu ne (we'd really like to know why tuna is now being singled out)." Some people say it's the American way of reacting to Japanese who use their company's expense account when they entertain at expensive sushi shops. It is interesting for me that Americans, most of whom disliked raw fish 20 years ago, came to consider sushi a luxury that they can't afford. Other people say with indignation that Americans aren't satisfied with just singling out cars for attack (kuruma wo yari-dama ni ageta dake de wa tari nai rashii).
Though there are many different kinds of tuna, the great bluefin is the best for sushi. Indeed, over half the catch of blue fin around the world ends up in Japan. In that sense, if the fish really is in danger of extinction, I guess there's nothing to do but get used to the idea of going to a sushi shop and not being able to order any tuna. Oh well.