Maritime Zone 3 has 'low chances of overfishing'
Thursday, June 14, 2007
CHANCES of overfishing in Brunei's Zone 3 are low partly because the fish in its waters are widely spread out, according to an associate professor of the National Fisheries University Japan.
Dr Chifumi Imai was able to make this assurance following a marine research expedition in the sultanate's waters on board one of Japan's research and training vessel, Tenyo Maru.
To lessen future threats of overfishing, Imai recommended the use of nets with wide gaps to allow immature fish a chance to escape.
The ship returned to Muara port yesterday morning after nine days of joint fisheries research with Brunei's Department of Fisheries, Southeast Asia Fisheries Development Centre and National Fisheries University Japan (NFU).
The ship detected the density of fish schools at regular intervals using an echo sounder, which had a vertical range of about 1,000 metres, and found higher concentration of fish before sunrise.
The ship remained within Zone 3 (30 to 40 Nautical miles off the coast), with depths of up to 130 metres, and most of the specimens caught were major components of the pelagic ecosystem Bregmaceros, also known as unicorn cod, and Leptocephalus eel larvae as a secondary component.
Threadfin fish of the genus Nemipterus comprised the majority of the benthic fish community. The most abundant was the yellow belly threadfin. Threadfin is expensive in Japan and is a major source of frozen fish paste. Another very expensive fish in Japan, the Branchiostegus or tilefish, was also caught.
Out of the five species caught, one remained unidentified, but the researchers will run further investigations on their eventual return to Japan.
Captain Sotaro Mizutani said that a surprise catch was blowfish or fugu, a rare delicacy in Japan that if prepared wrongly is lethal when eaten.
The ship obtained their fish samples a few times a day using mid-water trawling, squid jigging and rod fishing.
The team also conducted chemical analyses, research on water salinity, temperature, dissolved oxygen and conductivity.
The Brunei Times
Dr Chifumi Imai was able to make this assurance following a marine research expedition in the sultanate's waters on board one of Japan's research and training vessel, Tenyo Maru.
To lessen future threats of overfishing, Imai recommended the use of nets with wide gaps to allow immature fish a chance to escape.
The ship returned to Muara port yesterday morning after nine days of joint fisheries research with Brunei's Department of Fisheries, Southeast Asia Fisheries Development Centre and National Fisheries University Japan (NFU).
The ship detected the density of fish schools at regular intervals using an echo sounder, which had a vertical range of about 1,000 metres, and found higher concentration of fish before sunrise.
The ship remained within Zone 3 (30 to 40 Nautical miles off the coast), with depths of up to 130 metres, and most of the specimens caught were major components of the pelagic ecosystem Bregmaceros, also known as unicorn cod, and Leptocephalus eel larvae as a secondary component.
Threadfin fish of the genus Nemipterus comprised the majority of the benthic fish community. The most abundant was the yellow belly threadfin. Threadfin is expensive in Japan and is a major source of frozen fish paste. Another very expensive fish in Japan, the Branchiostegus or tilefish, was also caught.
Out of the five species caught, one remained unidentified, but the researchers will run further investigations on their eventual return to Japan.
Captain Sotaro Mizutani said that a surprise catch was blowfish or fugu, a rare delicacy in Japan that if prepared wrongly is lethal when eaten.
The ship obtained their fish samples a few times a day using mid-water trawling, squid jigging and rod fishing.
The team also conducted chemical analyses, research on water salinity, temperature, dissolved oxygen and conductivity.
The Brunei Times
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