He's part of a team of fish experts that the Environment Agency has summoned to tackle the problem. They cast the wide, flat nets known as toami that Japanese fishermen traditionally have used. But they find only a handful of gobies. But the gobies are carefully placed in a plastic bag full of water, so they can be thrown back once they're measured. There are no really good solutions.
Foreign fish are a problem in lakes around Japan, and some towns have turned to anglers for help.
Lake Biwa, the nation's largest lake and the one inundated with foreign fish after Akihito brought back his souvenirs from Chicago, started an anti-bluegill campaign this year, encouraging people to fish for the predators and either eat them or throw them in the garbage. But Mr. Ichihara recoils at the suggestion that anglers be drafted to solve the imperial moat's problem. It's not a place of recreation. Even Mr. Yamashita of the bass association deems angling an unseemly option. Worse, some people might go after the wrong fish.