Japanese fishermen, researchers join hands to study oceanic changes

Fishermen and researchers in Japan have joined hands to collect and analyze data of the changing marine environment around the country, such as warmer sea temperatures, in the hope to contribute to an industry that is struggling with dwindling hauls of popular fish like saury.

The project, involving the Nippon Foundation, Japan's national federation of fisheries cooperative associations and the University of Tokyo's ocean research institute, will start in April, with fishers planning to send data on water temperatures, salinity and their catches to the university for study.

They will also report their encounters with unusual species through a designated smartphone app.

According to the Nippon Foundation, it is the first time that fishers and researchers cooperate to get to the bottom of the changes in the ocean environment of Japan's coastal areas. The project is expected to help to analyze the causes of oceanic changes and to make future predictions.

Data collecting has already started on a trial basis in 12 of Japan's 47 prefectures including Hokkaido and Okinawa, and they are expected to expand activities in April.

Masanobu Sakamoto, chief of the fisheries' federation, underscored the "sense of crisis" among fishermen over the recent changes in the sea, but noted that they had not known where to seek advice.

"We would like to cooperate to keep alive Japan's fisheries industry for another 100 years," he told a press conference in Tokyo earlier this month.

According to a survey by the Nippon Foundation, changes observed along the Japanese coastal water due to higher water temperatures, among other reasons, include the season of fish migration, as well as the disappearance of once abundant species and the harvest of fish which had not been caught around the northern part of the country.

For example, Hokkaido, the northernmost of Japan's four main islands, now has the largest catch of blowfish, which used to be harvested in southern parts of the country, while disappearance of coastal seaweeds due to environmental factors has been reported by fishermen in a wide area of the country.

© KYODO