A remote island about 360 kilometers east of Okinawa’s main island is trying to build a new local industry by farming flounder and abalone — inland.
Because of its remote location, it has been difficult for the island to develop a fishing port to help develop a fishing industry. However, efforts are now underway to promote land-based aquaculture as a new form of local commerce.
“We want to create a new industry and attract young people back,” an affiliated official said.
Kita-Daito Island is surrounded by 15-meter-high cliffs. Though there are fishing grounds in the area that boast tuna and other species, the island had no fishing port until relatively recently.
Traditionally, the island’s main industry is agriculture, primarily sugarcane.
The island’s first fishing port was finally completed three years ago, following a difficult construction project to hollow out bedrock. Since then, the number of full-time local fishermen has gradually increased, but many young people still leave the island after graduating from junior high school and never return. Since 1972 — the year Okinawa Prefecture was returned to Japan — the island’s population has fallen from 680 to 550.
The creation of new industries is an urgent issue for Kita-Daito Island. But the area is known as a pathway for strong typhoons, which can impact agriculture and fisheries. Attention thus turned to indoor aquaculture, which is less affected by weather conditions.
The village of Kita-Daito — the municipality that has jurisdiction over the island — formed a council in cooperation with local fishery associations and others and launched an aquaculture project in fiscal 2011. The council converted a swimming pool in a former school into an aquaculture facility, installing tanks and other equipment.
Low-temperature water can prevent fish and shellfish from feeding. However, the facility can use the warm seawater — around 20 C year-round — that surrounds the island by diverting water pumped from underground before it is desalinated for islanders’ daily use.
Aquaculture experts from the Tohoku and Hokuriku regions helped locals get the project up and running. At the village’s request, Yasushi Nishio, an abalone expert from the Ishikawa Prefecture Fisheries Research Center has been regularly visiting the island since around 2014 to provide technical guidance and other assistance.