2014. This will be a year long remembered by those involved in cormorant fishing in Japan, for it is when eggs laid by sea cormorants used in fishing on the Uji river produced chicks that successfully reached maturity. Although cormorant fishing in Japan is said to have a history going back more than a thousand years, it is extremely rare for the sea cormorants used in fishing here to breed in captivity. This is literally a "first step" for the cormorant fishermen and their sea cormorants. With warm wishes for this new "progression," we hope to observe it as it unfolds.