What’s that fork for?

Have you ever been in a different cultural setting for a meal while on the job and not had a clue? Sometimes in this business you find yourself in a situation requiring a degree of social etiquette and cultural sophistication that is just not taught in fisheries graduate courses. If you don’t realize that these social demands can be amplified in different cultures and certain societal settings, it can get a little stressful for those of us used to wearing boots and slinging fish slime. Sure, we may have learned to drink wine as well as beer over the years, and most of us have a decent sense of general protocol and a modicum of manners, but sometimes you just have to do your best and get stuff down the hatch… without causing too much of an incident. I remember one time while in Japan I went out with our delegation to a tempura bar. It was pretty good stuff, mostly seafood that had been lightly battered and then fried on the spot. Aside from me being a bit clunky with chopsticks, the meal was going OK. But then we were served fried shrimp heads in tempura, and the little buggers were staring right back atcha. Knowing that shrimp carapaces are largely made of chitin, and knowing that chitin has the consistency of toenails, there was a bit of hesitation on my part—but I cowboyed-up, dug-in, and they were crunchy like a potato chip. Plus, I think I got my fiber for the day.