Sustainable Oyster Farming – Inspired by Disaster

foreign coast of Miyagi two great ocean currents meet the nutrient-rich oyasio and could make this one of the world's three most fertile fishing grounds [Music] for 40 years has cultivated oysters in the tokara district of Minami samrika foreign the method used here is to suspend the growing oysters on lions attached to rafts oysters feed on Plankton carried by the ocean currents the nutrient dense Waters of tokara produce some of Japan's best oysters [Music] they're best in February or March foreign at one time this Bay was overcrowded with rafts as Farmers kept trying to increase production but the result was that the oysters didn't Thrive and production actually declined the sea here was becoming drained of nutrients and the oysters weren't getting enough nourishment to grow properly the reputation of our oysters got worse and worse and even reached the point where buyers were saying they just didn't want tokara oysters anymore goto grew more and more concerned about the deterioration of the marine environment and in 2011 the Great East Japan earthquake hit this Coast [Music] the tsunami devastated the area sweeping all the oyster farms out to sea Gotto lost his house as well as all his oyster growing gear looking at the now empty sea he came to a decision when you've lost everything you were left with a blank slate this gives you the freedom to come up with new ways to do things goto proposed that the tokara oyster Farmers drastically limit the number of their rafts the goal was to reduce the burden on the environment and Achieve sustainable production the other Farmers agreed and replaced the 1000 rafts lost to the tsunami with less than 300. with fewer rafts each oyster could now get all the nutrients it needed and growth rates increased dramatically it used to take three years of growth for an oyster to reach 15 grams and now they were weighing 20 grams after just four months it even more surprising was how different the oysters became so much plumper and tastier and after all as grow as our main goal must be to produce oysters for people to eat and enjoy we're still thinking about how we can improve things further in future as well as reducing the environmental burden they're now producing twice what they did before the earthquake goto's company's efforts in sustainable oyster farming have been certified by ASC the international aquaculture standards body this is such a great example of how small scale produces rather than giant corporations are now coming to realize that achieving sustainable aquaculture is something that benefits The Producers too I believe that publicizing this case will have a significant influence worldwide the changes that goto implemented have inspired the Next Generation too his son shinya will inherit the company and is determined to carry on his work I guess everyone probably thinks this but for me the coolest thing in life is to create something I can be proud of and then to actually produce it I hope this will always be my ambition in life converting to sustainable agriculture is not a goal in itself it's a way of giving the Next Generation a fresh start

Channel: Japan Video Topics - English

Views: 2,993

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Id: Ca4MGHXISbE

Length: 4min 44sec (284 seconds)

Published: Thu Apr 20 2023