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The Mitsui & Co. Environment Fund

Introduction to Grant Projects

Iwate Medical University Centre for Liberal Arts and Scinces, Department of Biology, Professor Masatoshi Matsumasa

Establishment of an ecosystem function model for coastal fisheries centered on wise use in brackish water areas: For sustainable use of fishery resources in Sanriku

Research grant

Project Description

Reconstruction of the unprecedented damage endured by the fisheries industry due to the tsunami, in particular to construct a stable mechanism for oyster farming and propose the effective utilization of brackish water ecosystems. Fundamentally, by targeting nine brackish water areas on the Sanriku coast, searching for water areas suitable for controlling Pacific oyster population and variety, and progressing with natural and artificial oyster seedlings, cultivation experiments and Japanese crab survey by traps and feeding experiments to propose recommendations on management and utilization of coastal areas to provide to society every year via a website. As a result, the project presents a direction of Sanriku's coastal management which enables stable and sustainable use of fishery species, not only oysters, such as salmon, ayu, eel, crab, and fish species that grow in brackwish water, seaweed, and abalone and sea urchin that feed on them, brackish water clam and Japanese basket clam.

Fields
Marine resources/foodPreservation of biodiversity and ecosystem
Grant year
FY2011 Research Grants
Grant term
3 years and 2 months
August 2011 - September 2014
Grant amount
24,575,000 yen
Activity region
Tsugaru-ishikawa estuary (Miyako, Iwate Prefecture), Orikasakawa estuary (Yamada, Iwate Prefecture), Unosumaikawa estuary (Kamaishi, Iwate Prefecture), Hirotawa Otomoura (Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture), Kitakami river estuary - middle basin (Ishinomaki Miyagi Prefecture - Oshu, Iwate Prefecture), etc.
Pacific oyster natural seedling test in Hirota Bay (Wakinosawa - Otomo area)

Overview of the Organization

Professor Masatoshi Matsumasa
Representative
Professor Masatoshi Matsumasa
Profile
Specialist Field
Ecology
Affiliated academic societies
The Ecological Society of Japan, Japanese Association of Benthology, The Zoological Society of Japan, International Carcinological Society
Background (Employment and Academic)
Tohoku University Graduate School of Science, Doctor of Science obtained in March 1989, Research Associate at Iwate Medical University Department of Nutrition Biology in April 1989, University of the Ryukyus Tropical Biosphere Research Centre, visiting lecturer April 1997, Iwate Medical University Lecturer in April 2001 and Associate Professor in May 2004, Iwate Medical University Centre of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Department of Biology Associate Proffessor in April 2007 and Professor from January 2009 till present
WEB site
http://www.iwate-med.ac.jp/education/gakubu_in/common_kouza/seibutu/
Joint Researchers
Iwate Fisheries Technology Centre, Deputy Director Akira Yoshiyama, Iwate Fisheries Technology Centre, Chief Investigative Research Fellow, Tadakatsu Noro, Iwate University Faculty of umanities & Social Sciences, Professor Masami Maki, Iwate University Department of Education, Associate Professor, Kajiwara Masago, Field Science Centre for Norther Biosphere, Hokkaido University, Akkeshi Marine Station, Professor (Director) Nakaoka Masahiro
Research achievements
  • (1) Solving the ecological process of the brackish water area (1), Masatoshi Matsumasa, Kengo Kurata, Satoru Wada, Mark J Grygier, Japanese Association of Benthology, Vol.65, p. 27 (Feature preface) (2010)
  • (2) Water environment and biological environment in brackish water river areas, Co-authored, supervised by Tetsuya Kasuda, Gihodo Publishing, Tokyo, 353pp (2008)
  • (3) Animals on marine flowers: Does the presence of flowering shoots affect mobile epifaunal assemblage in an eelgrass meadow? (Nakaoka, M., M. Matsumasa, T. Toyohara, S.L. Williams) Mar. Biol. 153: 589-598 (2008)
  • (4) Spatial sifts in food sources for macrozoobenthos in an estuarine ecosystem: carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analyses. (Doi, H. , M. Matsumasa, T. Toya, N. Satoh, C. Mizota, Y. Maki and E. Kikuchi) Estuar. Coast. Shelf Sci. 64: 316-322 (2005)
  • (5) Changes in blood glucose and lactate levels of male fiddler crabs: effects of aggression and claw waving. (M. Matsumasa, N. Murai) Animal Behaviour 63: 569-577 (2005)
  • (6) Effect of secondary substrate on associated small crustaceans in a brackish lagoon. (Matsumasa, M.) J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol. 176: 245-256 (1994)