A predicted ocean

Research and development for the Sustainability Initiative in the Marginal Seas of South and East Asia (SIMSEA)

Period: From 2014
Organizations: Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), Sasakawa Peace Foundation

To promote the Sustainability Initiative in the Marginal Seas of South and East Asia (SIMSEA), which is a transdisciplinary as well as interdisciplinary research program launched in 2014 by the Regional Committee for Asia and the Pacific (RCAP) of the International Council for Science (ICSU), we have developed a system to forecast ocean conditions and conducted a research on changes in fish catches jointly with local stakeholders in Sukumo Bay, Kochi Prefecture. Forecast information on the sea conditions on the following day is now provided on an hourly basis through the JAMSTEC’s official website, and is used not only to increase sustainable efficiency of fisheries but also to deal with possible oil leaks from a stranded ship in an unlikely event. This activity is strongly supported by local stakeholders.

System to forecast ocean conditions in Sukumo Bay
(200 m resolution)
* Hourly Up to 1 day ahead now available
(Courtesy of Masanori Tateda in Sukumo City)
Survey of stranded cargo ships
Source: Report on community development based on the use of the sea in Sukumo Bay 2, 3 (JAMSTEC Application Laboratory, http://www.jamstec.go.jp/aplinfo/kowatch/?p=2306, http://www.jamstec.go.jp/aplinfo/kowatch/?p=4548

Ocean Prediction for Coastal Fisheries around Kyushu Island

Period: From 2017
Organizations: Research Institute for Applied Mechanics, Kyushu University; Nagasaki University; Fukuoka Prefecture; Saga Prefecture; Nagasaki Prefecture; JFE Advantech Co., Ltd.; IDEA Consultants, Inc.; Japan Fisheries Information Service Center; Furuno Electric Co., Ltd.

Japan’s small-vessel coastal fishing industry is faced with a number of issues, including declining fishery resources, soaring costs of fuel, and shortages of successors. In order to turn around the sluggish conditions, members of industry, the government, academia, and the private sector formed a consortium to work on using ICT to render the coastal fishing industry smarter through a project commissioned by the Fisheries Agency to develop ICT-based fisheries technologies.
The in-situ measurement has been very sparse in the coastal areas, and thus the assimilation of new observation data obtained by fishery operators has allowed for the development of a model for rendering forecasts of ocean conditions in high-resolution images. Fishery operators can receive the results of forecasts of ocean conditions using an app installed on their smart phones, which is helpful for deciding the time and location of fishing. The visualization of fishing conditions also helps to make the fishing industry more efficient in terms of reducing the amount of fuel and labor costs.

Ocean current in the Tsushima Strait in northern
Kyushu as predicted by a numerical model
App for displaying forecasts (under development)
Water temperatures, salinity, and
current can be displayed.
Source: DREAMS_D Forecasts of Ocean Conditions
(Research Institute for Applied Mechanics, Kyushu University, https://dreams-d.riam.kyushu-u.ac.jp/vwp/)