Fisheries Promotion Group, Higashidoori Village

Issue 3FISHERIES NEWSThe Seaside Flavor of Higashidoori

April-June 2017
Cage culture of young salmon

Cage Rearing of Salmon
Young salmon were reared in acage in a fishing port, andreleased into the Pacific ocean.

〜Baby salmon began their adventure〜
Baby salmon were released into a cage and reared up to 1-3 g in eachfishing port this Spring. With advice from the Mutsu Fisheries Office,fishermen fed the young salmon three times a day and raised them for
2-3 weeks. About 2.9 million young salmon began their adventure in
the Pacific Ocean. Second grade students from Higashidori Elementary
School also released baby salmon into the Oippe River. Students wereexcited to see the salmon and enjoyed releasing them. They cheered
the salmon on in hopes that they would survive and come back when
they are 6 grade students. Salmon grow in the North Pacific Ocean
around Alaska for about 4 years with their fellows from US, Canada andRussia, come back to the River where they were born.

Sowing Culture of Scallop
Sowing of new scallops inNoushi started. Plowing seabedand releasing baby scallops hadtaken place in April.
Sandlance fishing
Sandlance fishing in Shiranuka
showed a good catch this year.
The author saw the scene
himself.
Kelp Growth on Rope
Kelp ropes were deployed lastDecember. The author went to
see the ropes to check how it
grew within the last 4 months.
Fishes in Haida Gwaii,
Canada
The author introduces the fishes
in Haida Gwaii in the North East
Pacific Ocean, and finds thesimilarities and differences
between the villages.

Releasing into a cage

Students releasing fries

Releasing baby scallops〜Sowing culture of scallop in Noushi〜
A Fisheries Cooperative in Noushi released baby scallops into a plot
which was allocated for sowing. Before releasing into a plot, the seabed
was plowed using a dredge net to remove any predators of baby
scallop such as starfish and sea urchin. Among the catch of predators,
the author found a beautiful shellfish, baby octopus and a uniquely
shaped crab. The unique and interesting seabed world under the ocean
amused me. A few days later, baby scallops were delivered from
Wakinosawa, and released by fishermen in Noushi. The author andfisheries officers from Mutsu surveyed the size, sex and condition ofthe scallop and counted the number of “Akazaragai” (a type of scallop)
attached to scallops shells. We will see the scallops about 12 cm wide
at market in about 3 years.

Fishermen releasedscallops

How many “Akazaragai” doyou ﬁnd from the scallops??

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Fisheries Promotion Group, Higashidoori Village

Issue 3

Good catch of sandlance after last few years of absence
Sandlance fishing in Shiranuka had been active this Spring even thought it
had been really bad the last few years. Not to miss the chance to see thescene upclose, the author went to see the fishing with a fisherman in
Shiranuka. The fisherman searched for a school of sandlance, lighting up
the surface of water. Sandlance has a habit of gathering under a strong
light. Once the fisherman found a good spot, he lit up the spot until
enough sandlance gathered under the light. Then he sank a fine mesh net“Shikiami” under the school of the fish, and hauled the net slowly up tothe edge of the boat. He scooped the fish from the net using a hand net
with a long handle. The sashimi from the fish was so delicious!! Usually weFresh sandlancecannot eat it because the fish quickly lose their freshness. “Tsukudani” ofSandlance was made at a food factory in Shiranuka. The factoryundertakes the first process, and the final process is taken place in afactory in Akita prefecture. The factory gave off steam filled with the sweet smell of “Tsukudani”.

Gather with strong
lightSank a net underthe school

Scoop with a handnet“Tsukudani” factory

How does the kelp grow on a rope??
The author introduced the activity to enhance kelp stock using a rope
wrapped with a kelp seedling string in the Autumn-Winter issue. It has been
about 4 months since the ropes were thrown into the ocean. Since then theauthor has been worried about the ropes. He went to see them. Kelp hasgrown well on the rope. Specially the ropes thrown at Shiriya, Shitsukari andShiranuka where they face the Pacific Ocean have grown very well. Theauthor was happy to see it, and prayed that it grows bigger and bigger, andcontributes to the increase of kelp stocks in Higashidori. Please let him know
if you find a kelp rope washed ashore after stormy weather for his research.

Kelp seedlings cultured
last December

Kelp rope in Shiriya

Kelp grows from aseedling string

Kelp on a rope (Iwaya)

Kelp rope inShitsukari

Essay ⓵『Fisheries resources in Haida Gwaii, North East Pacific Ocean』
Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands) are small islands 6 hours away from the West Coast of Canada by ferry.
The islands are the home of the Haida Nation. The author lived there for 7 months, and the place became hissecond home. The author loves the islands very much and wants to move there in the future. In this essay, theauthor introduces the fishes in Haida Gwaii that are situated on the opposite side of the Pacific Ocean. Theauthor saw a lot of fisheries resources, such as colorful rockfishes, fearful looking lingcod, Halibut which makes“Hirame” Flounder look tiny, various kinds of salmon, delicious dungeness crab, ocean forests of giant kelp andbull kelp, schools of Pacific herring which come to spawn in kelp forests, gigantic sea urchins exploiting kelp
forests, and Giant Pacific octopus hunting under moon light. Fisheries resources in the North East Pacific weresimilar to that of Higashidori, however, the scale and size were big and magnificent.

Gigantic sea urchin

Lingcod

Red ocean perch

Paciﬁc herring2