the Sea and Japan Project Public Relations Office (2024.09.26) Sea and Japan Project Public Relations Office Children from Aoya Elementary School are learning about the sea at Nagawase Fishing Port! September 19, 2024 [Aoya Town, Tottori City, Tottori Prefecture] The Tottori Blue Carbon Project “Aiming to restore a rich ocean” executive committee (Tottori Prefecture Cultivation and Fisheries Association) is promoting the utilization of purple sea urchins, which occur in large numbers and are one of the causes of the decline of seaweed beds. At the same time, we are working with the local community to restore Tottori’s rich ocean by raising awareness about the richness of the ocean, using the commercialization of purple sea urchins as a model case. As part of this effort, fifth graders from Aoya Elementary School visited Nagawase Fishing Port and held a study session and interacted with local sea creatures, including sea urchins. This event is part of the Nippon Foundation’s “Ocean and Japan Project,” which connects people through the ocean in order to pass on the rich and beautiful ocean to the next generation. Official website http://tottori-bluecarbon.jp/
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/77920/2919/77920-2919-6ea0fed938a78f2d779036ea89e0a63c-888×692.jpg Event overview ・Event overview: A study session on purple sea urchins was held with fishermen from the Aoya branch of the Tottori Prefecture Fisheries Cooperative Association. ・Date: Thursday, September 19, 2024 ・Venue: Nagawase Fishing Port ・Number of
participants: 28 elementary school students and 1 faculty member Interaction/study session with purple sea urchins The Tottori Blue Carbon Project “Aiming to restore the rich ocean” executive committee (Tottori Prefecture Cultivation and Fisheries Association, a public interest incorporated foundation) held a program for fifth graders at Aoya Elementary School to “look at Aoya’s sea creatures and environment.” By holding a learning program with the theme of “Let’s touch and learn,” we are supporting elementary school students to learn about the current state of the ocean in their local Aoya area and develop an awareness of paying attention to the environment of the ocean (especially seaweed beds). Masu. This time, we will talk about the current situation and causes of the disappearance of seaweed beds, based on the pre-learning experience that we learned while holding live purple sea urchins, and to give people a feel for the diversity of sea life in Aoya, not just sea urchins. With the cooperation of fishermen from the Aoya Branch of the Prefectural Fisheries
Cooperative Association, Aoya High School students gave a lecture and toured the Nagawase fishing port, observed a large number of purple sea urchins in the port, and listened to the stories of the fishermen about their hardships. We visited the extermination experiment site and learned about the effectiveness of intensive extermination. In addition, from the sea urchin farming site, we thought about the possibility of utilization and experienced the current state of the sea in Aoya.
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/77920/2919/77920-2919-62078a6bb974d6a5c729f1535add9dff-738×553.jpg First, Director-General Furuta gave a lecture using slides about the state of the sea in Tottori Prefecture and the local area of Aoya, as a review of the previous session. The students had been
enthusiastic and interested in the lessons so far, and they remembered the content taught by Director-General Furuta well. We had a local fisherman, the chairman of the district management committee of the Aoya branch of the Tottori Prefecture Fisheries Cooperative
Association, who visited the site, talk to us about the current situation of purple sea urchins and seaweed beds at Nagawase Fishing Port. Afterwards, we answered questions from the students. Questions such as “Is the sea in Aoya clean? What is the environment for sea urchins? What do sea urchins eat?” to questions related to their experiences as fishermen, such as “Why I became a fisherman” and “What made me happy about being a fisherman?” A wide range of questions were asked about sea life, such as “What kind of fish can you catch?” and “Have you ever seen a whale shark, giant squid, or dolphin?” Eat anything, including not only seaweed but also the peel of oranges. It’s a joy when you catch a fish. They politely answered that they had seen dolphins and other things. It was clear that they had a deep interest in the local sea and local fishermen.
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/77920/2919/77920-2919-d965ace026b2f95bcb2d0787be9c383a-809×606.jpg Inspection of sea urchin extermination experiment site and aquaculture site by high school students After the lecture, the students toured the extermination experiment site where Aoya High School students were actually conducting an extermination experiment to learn about the effectiveness of intensive extermination, and also toured a sea urchin farming site. At the ramp in Nagawase Fishing Port, high school students actually looked at sections where sea urchins had been exterminated and sections where they had not been removed and compared them, and found that in the section where sea urchins had been exterminated, there were fewer sea urchins and seaweed had grown on them. I confirmed that it is working. In addition, during a tour of the sea urchin farming site, the
participants observed the current fish tank from the breakwater and saw how many sea urchins are being farmed. Voices from participating children ・I thought that purple sea urchins only eat seaweed, but it turns out that they eat a variety of things. ・I want to convey what I learned today to my family and friends. Organization name: Tottori Blue Carbon Project “Aiming to restore the rich ocean” Executive Committee (Tottori Prefecture Cultivation and Fisheries Association) URL: http://tottori-bluecarbon.jp/ Activities: Tottori Prefecture Cultivation and Fisheries Association, Tottori Prefecture Fisheries Cooperative Association, Tottori Prefecture, Norinchukin Bank, and others have come together as a public-private partnership to commercialize purple sea urchin, which is a cause of the decline of seaweed beds, as a model case. Our aim is to work together with the local community to restore Tottori’s rich ocean by raising awareness about the richness of the ocean.
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/77920/2919/77920-2919-748e5d0a5152c46c3d4a71ea8acbe7eb-1868×535.png Nippon Foundation “Ocean and Japan Project” The sea supports Japanese people’s lives in various ways, sometimes giving them peace of mind, excitement, and inspiration. This is an all-Japan project that aims to encourage people across the country, including children, to view the ongoing environmental deterioration of the oceans as their own, and to expand the circle of action to preserve the oceans for future generations. is. https://uminohi.jp/
