Misplaced Pages

#966033

46-396: Yakushima's electricity is more than 50% hydroelectric, and surplus power has been used to produce hydrogen gas in an experiment by Kagoshima University . The island has been a test site for Honda 's hydrogen fuel cell vehicle research. Hydrogen cars are not stationed on the island, but rather electric cars are run by the municipality. In 1980, an area of 18,958  ha (46,850 acres)

92-409: A 2009 paper. Yakushima Airport (KUM) is the only airport serving the island. Scheduled commercial flights are operated by Japan Air Commuter , a JAL subsidiary. As of 2019, the runway was in the process of extension from 1500m to 2000m, which would allow jet aircraft to operate and a wider range of destinations to be served. As of January 2024, the runway expansion has not progressed and remains at

138-471: A captain that fully understood how to use the safety equipment. The oceans cover nearly two thirds of the Earth's surface, and are continuously threatened by human behaviors and practices. By taking so many fish from the seas, humans have managed to remove entire links from the marine food chain . This causes a chain effect, leading to an overall upset of the delicate ecological balance. Sharks are one of

184-403: A crew member is caught in a line and pulled into a winch on deck. The installation of a readily accessible emergency stop switch on the winch can potentially prevent these kinds of injuries. Injury data collection systems have begun tracking fishing-related injuries (fatal and non-fatal), using publicly available reports such as news media. The U.S. Coast Guard has primary jurisdiction over

230-476: A large profit. Many people working in commercial fishing are self-employed, with some or all of their pay dependent on the proceeds from the sale of the fish caught. In the UK, the technical term for this is share fisherman, which refers to anyone working without an employment contract, on a boat crewed by more than one person, and relying for their livelihood at least partly on a share of the profits or gross sales of

276-480: A length of 1500m. Tanegayaku High Speed Ship Jetfoil "Toppy" "Rocket" The number of bus routes is relatively high on both Tanegashima and Yakushima. They operate from morning until evening. However, the frequency of buses on each route is low, so careful planning is required. There are several rental car companies. The northwestern road, called the Western Forest Road, is a narrow road on which it

322-413: A majority of fatal vessel disasters. The most frequent cause of death is falls overboard . Falling overboard specifically killed 182 fishermen in the period between 2000 and 2010. This fatality rate is 3 times that of the next most dangerous job in the U.S. and more than 25 times that of the national average across all workers. Most falls overboard went unwitnessed, and in none of the cases documented

368-444: A much lesser extent than are found farther south in the islands of Okinawa . The island, along with neighbouring Tanegashima, has been recognised as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because they support populations of Japanese wood pigeons , Ryukyu green pigeons and Ryukyu robins . Yakushima is famous for its lush vegetation. Most of the island has at one time or another been logged (dating back at least to

414-463: A path but this can be dangerous as the line is very much still in operation. There are several onsen (hot springs) on Yakushima. Kagoshima University Kagoshima University ( 鹿児島大学 , Kagoshima Daigaku ) , abbreviated to Kadai ( 鹿大 ) , is a Japanese national university located in Kagoshima , Kagoshima Prefecture , Japan . The university was established in 1949 consolidating

460-888: A result of a combination of severe weather conditions, extreme fatigue because any one fisherman usually puts in a 21-hour shift, and dangerous equipment. Commercial fishing has been identified by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) as a priority industry sector in the National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) to identify and provide intervention strategies regarding occupational health and safety issues. Common causes of fishing-related deaths include vessel disasters, falls overboard, and onboard injuries. Between 2000 and 2010, most vessel disasters often were initiated by flooding, vessel instability, and large waves, and that severe weather conditions contributed to

506-412: A worldwide catch of well over a million tonnes in 1999, with herring and sardines together providing a catch of over 22 million metric tons in 1999. Many other species are fished in smaller numbers. In 2016, of the 171 million tonnes of fish caught, about 88 percent or over 151 million tonnes were utilized for direct human consumption. This share has increased significantly in recent decades, as it

SECTION 10

#1732775790967

552-517: Is difficult for cars to pass each other. The road is often closed due to steep curves, slopes, and occasional landslides. Gasoline prices on the island are significantly higher than on the Japanese mainland. The last operating narrow gauge (762mm gauge) timber railway in Japan is on the island but it is freight only. Several other lines did operate but are now closed. The track is used by some hikers as

598-590: Is extremely heavy, with at least 250 millimetres (9.8 in) in each month and as much as 773 millimetres (30.4 in) in June alone. Yakushima is Japan's wettest place, and annual precipitation in Yakushima is one of the world's highest at 4,000 to 10,000 mm (160 to 390 in). It is said by the locals to rain "35 days a month". There are drier periods in autumn and winter, while the heaviest downpours occur in spring and summer, often accompanied by landslides. It

644-517: Is home to the Japanese Space Centre. Periodic rocket launches from Tanegashima can clearly be seen from Yakushima. The bedrock of the island is granite, and as such it hosts no active volcanoes. It has an area of approximately 504.5 square kilometres (194.8 sq mi). The island is roughly circular in shape, with a circumference of 89 kilometres (55 mi) and a diameter of 28 kilometres (17 mi). The highest elevations on

690-526: Is located Yakushima Airport . Other settlements are the coastal villages of Hiranai, Kuriobashi, Nagata, Okonotaki and the abandoned forest village of Kosugidani. Among the localities, there are the gorges of Shiratani Unsui, Arakawa, Yakushima Airport, Kigensugi and Yakusugi. Yakushima has been settled since at least the Jōmon period . It was first mentioned in written documents of the Chinese Sui dynasty of

736-505: Is named the Jōmon Sugi ( 縄文杉 ) , as its age is estimated to date to at least the Jōmon period of Japanese history, 2300 years ago. In addition, the island lists over 50 varieties of endemic flower, notably rhododendrons , and hundreds of rare endemic Bryophyta , as well as a number of endemic trees. Yakushima has a humid subtropical climate ( Köppen climate classification Cfa ) with hot, humid summers and mild winters. Precipitation

782-572: Is specifically designed and updated to avoid catching certain species of animal that is unwanted or endangered. Billions of dollars are spent each year in researching/developing new techniques to reduce the injury and even death of unwanted marine animals caught by the fishermen. In fact, there was a study taken in 2000 on different deterrents and how effective they are at deterring the target species. The study showed that most auditory deterrents helped prevent whales from being caught while more physical barriers helped prevent birds from getting tangled within

828-579: Is the activity of catching fish and other seafood for commercial profit , mostly from wild fisheries . It provides a large quantity of food to many countries around the world, but those who practice it as an industry must often pursue fish far into the ocean under adverse conditions. Large-scale commercial fishing is called industrial fishing . The major fishing industries are not only owned by major corporations but by small families as well. In order to adapt to declining fish populations and increased demand, many commercial fishing operations have reduced

874-453: Is the southernmost place in Japan where there is snow in the mountains, often for months, while the ocean temperature is never below 19 °C (66 °F) See or edit raw graph data . According to a disputed theory, airborne pollutants from the People's Republic of China may have affected Yakushima white pine in the forest on the island. The scientific results have been published in

920-558: The Meiji restoration , the island has been administered as part of Kagoshima Prefecture . In 2017, Yakushima was struck by Typhoon Noru causing one death. In November 2023, a United States Air Force V-22 Osprey crashed off the coast of Yakushima, killing 7 crewmen with 1 last crewman missing. The population of Yakushima reached a peak in 1960 with 24,010 inhabitants. It thereafter declined until about 1995, but has subsequently stabilized at just over 13,000 inhabitants. Traditionally,

966-518: The 6th century. In 601, the Chinese sent an expedition to the "Country of Liukiu" (流求國). They noted that the people were small but pugnacious. The Chinese could not understand the local language and returned to China. In 607, they sent another expedition to trade, and brought back one of the islanders. A Japanese embassy was in Louyang when the expedition returned, and one of the Japanese exclaimed that

SECTION 20

#1732775790967

1012-472: The United States, according to an economic report released by NOAA's Fisheries Service. Commercial fishing may offer an abundance of jobs, but the pay varies from boat to boat, season to season. Crab fisherman Cade Smith was quoted in an article by Business Week as saying, "There was always a top boat where the crew members raked in $ 50,000 during the three- to five-day king crab season—or $ 100,000 for

1058-486: The World Heritage Site, no record of past tree cutting can be traced. The island is visited by 300,000 tourists every year. Yakushima is located approximately 61.3 kilometres (38.1 mi) south of the southern tip of Ōsumi Peninsula in southern Kyushu, or 135 kilometres (73 nmi) south of Kagoshima . The Vincennes Strait (Yakushima Kaikyō) separates it from the nearby island of Tanegashima , which

1104-401: The early Edo period), but has been extensively replanted and reseeded since logging ended in the late 1960s, at which time a conservation regime was established. In addition to this secondary forest, there are some remaining areas of primary forest , composed mainly of a variety of Cryptomeria japonica , or Japanese cedar, known as yakusugi ( 屋久杉 ) , the best known single example of which

1150-439: The economic mainstays of the population were forestry and the export of wood products (principally cedar roof shingles), and commercial fishing . Cultivation of oranges and tea, the distilling of shōchū , and tourism are now the main sources of income. Yakushima contains one of the largest tracts of existing Nansei Islands subtropical evergreen forests , an endangered habitat ecoregion . The only large animals indigenous to

1196-418: The filthy environment. These can infect wild fish that swim near the enclosure, or whole colonies of fish if an infected farm fish escapes the enclosure. Overfishing occurs because fish are captured at a faster rate than they can reproduce. Both advanced fishing technologies and increased demand for fish have resulted in overfishing. The Food and Agricultural Organization has reported that "about 25 percent of

1242-430: The fishing boat's catch. Commercial fishing uses many different methods to effectively catch a large variety of species including the use of pole and line, trolling with multiple lines, trawling with large nets such as seine-netting, and traps or pots . Sustainability of fisheries is improved by using specific equipment that eliminates or minimizes catching non-targeted species. Fishing methods vary according to

1288-476: The following schools because of educational reform in occupied Japan . The following schools became Kagoshima Prefectural University ( 鹿児島県立大学 , Kagoshima Kenritsu Daigaku ) in 1949 and were consolidated into Kagoshima University in 1955. These seven schools became the Faculties of Arts and Sciences, Education, Agriculture, Fisheries, Engineering, and Medicine in 1949. The Faculty of Arts and Sciences

1334-500: The food chain dynamics. Bycatch is the industry term for what they consider "unwanted or economically-worthless aquatic animals who are unintentionally caught using destructively indiscriminate fishing methods like longlines and driftnets , which generally target marketable marine creatures such as tuna and swordfish " There are also billions of other animals that are killed in this manner every year such as: sea turtles , marine mammals , and sea birds . Between 1990 and 2008, it

1380-446: The island are Miyanouradake ( 宮之浦岳 ) , with a height of 1,935 metres (6,348 ft), and Nagatadake ( 永田岳 ) , with a height of 1,886 metres (6,188 ft) above sea level; however, Yakushima has another 30 peaks of over 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) in height. There are numerous hot springs on the island. Major settlements of the island, composing Yakushima Municipality , are the port towns of Anbō and Miyanoura . Between them

1426-430: The island are red-bottomed macaques ( Yakushima macaque ) and a variety of sika deer ( yakushika ). The Japanese raccoon dog is also a common animal, but is not native to the island. Japanese weasels ( Mustela itatsi ) may also be seen from time to time. The island is a spawning ground for migratory loggerhead turtles, and dolphins are to be found offshore. The coastal areas have coral reefs in places, although to

Yakushima - Misplaced Pages Continue

1472-664: The islander wore the dress and spoke the language of Yaku Island. In the Japanese Shoku Nihongi in an entry dated 702 CE. It formed part of ancient Tane Province . It was often mentioned in the diaries of travelers between Tang dynasty China and Nara period Japan. During the Edo period , Yakushima was ruled by the Shimazu clan of the Satsuma Domain and was considered part of Ōsumi Province . Following

1518-428: The longer snow crab season". That may be true, but there are also the boats who do not do well; Smith said later in the same article that his worst season left him with a loss of 500 dollars. The industry has had to adapt through the years in order to keep earning a profit. A study taken on some small family-owned commercial fishing companies showed that they adapted to continue to earn a living but not necessarily make

1564-496: The net. During 2010–2014, 188 commercial fishing fatalities occurred in the United States, with fatality rates in different fishing fleets ranging from 21 to 147 deaths per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers (FTEs), which is many times higher than the fatality rate for all U.S. workers. During 1919 and 2005, 4111 fishermen died in fishing related accidents in the United Kingdom industry alone. These deaths are generally

1610-446: The ocean's most threatened groups (see list of threatened sharks ) because they are mistakenly caught by vessels searching for fish, and end up getting tossed back into the ocean dead or dying Some Asian cuisines value shark fin as a delicacy , incentivizing excessive catching of sharks and even finning practice among unregulated fishermen . This disappearance of sharks has enabled prey animals like rays to multiply, which alters

1656-424: The reefs more vulnerable to invasion by non-native species. Fish farming is the raising of fish for food in underwater enclosures, otherwise known as aquaculture . There are environmental hazards such as waste, damage to ecosystems, and negative effects on humans. Because they are so densely packed together, the fecal matter that accumulates can create algal blooms , or deadly parasites and viruses that thrive on

1702-583: The region, the species being fished for, and the technology available to the fishermen. A commercial fishing enterprise may vary from one man with a small boat with hand-casting nets or a few pot traps , to a huge fleet of trawlers processing tons of fish every day. Commercial fishing gears in use today include surrounding nets (e.g. purse seine ), seine nets (e.g. beach seine), trawls (e.g. bottom trawl ), dredges, hooks and lines (e.g. long line and troll line ), lift nets, gillnets , entangling nets, Pole and Line, and traps Commercial fishing gear

1748-470: The safety of the U.S. commercial fishing fleet, enforcing regulations of the U.S. Commercial Fishing Industry Vessel Safety Act of 1988 (CFIVSA). CFIVSA regulations focus primarily on saving lives after the loss of a vessel and not on preventing vessels from capsizing or sinking, falls overboard, or injuries on deck. CFIVSA regulations require that commercial fishing vessels carry various equipment (e.g., life rafts, radio beacons, and immersion suits) depending on

1794-405: The size of the vessel and the area in which it operates. Not all commercial fishermen follow safety regulations and advice. One study of Maine fishermen found that less than 25% of the fishermen interviewed had recent training in first aid or CPR, only 75% of the boats had survival suits and only 36% had a survival craft. Even the ships that did have the necessary equipment did not consistently have

1840-601: The sustainability of their harvest by fishing further down the food chain. This raises concern for fishery managers and researchers, who highlight how further they say that for those reasons, the sustainability of the marine ecosystems could be in danger of collapsing. Commercial fishermen harvest a wide variety of animals. However, a very small number of species support the majority of the world's fisheries; these include herring , cod , anchovy , tuna , flounder , mullet , squid , shrimp , salmon , crab , lobster , oyster and scallops . All except these last four provided

1886-417: The world's captured fish end up thrown overboard because they are caught unintentionally (bycatch), are illegal market species, or are of inferior quality and size" It should not go unnoticed that overfishing has caused more ecological extinction than any other human influence on coastal ecosystems. The global environmental problem of oceanic microplastics is largely caused by plastic-made fishing gear that

Yakushima - Misplaced Pages Continue

1932-596: Was 67 percent in the 1960s. In 2016, the greatest part of the 12 percent used for non-food purposes (about 20 million tonnes) was reduced to fishmeal and fish oil (74 percent or 15 million tonnes), while the rest (5 million tonnes) was largely utilized as material for direct feeding in aquaculture and raising of livestock and fur animals, in culture (e.g. fry, fingerlings or small adults for ongrowing), as bait, in pharmaceutical uses and for ornamental purposes. The industry, in 2006, also managed to generate over 185 billion dollars in sales and also provide over two million jobs in

1978-620: Was designated a UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Reserve . In 1993, 10 hectares (25 acres) of wetland at Nagata-hama was designated a Ramsar Site . It is the largest nesting ground for the endangered loggerhead sea turtle in the North Pacific. Yakushima's unique remnant of warm/temperate ancient forest has been a natural World Heritage Site since 1993. In the Wilderness core area (12.19 square kilometres (3,010 acres)) of

2024-560: Was divided into a Faculty of Law, Economics and the Humanities and a Faculty of Science in 1965. A Faculty of Dentistry was added in 1977. The Joint Faculty of Veterinary Medicine was separated from the Faculty of Agriculture in 2012. Graduate Schools have been added gradually. 31°34′18″N 130°32′42″E  /  31.57167°N 130.54500°E  / 31.57167; 130.54500 Commercial fishing Commercial fishing

2070-472: Was estimated that 8.5 million sea turtles were fatally caught in nets or on longlines as bycatch. Coral reefs are biodiversity -rich ecosystems which provide habitat for millions of aquatic species such as sponges, star fish, jellyfish, sea turtles, etc. Reef ecosystems are highly sensitive to chemical, temperature, and population changes. There has been an increasing disappearance of large predators such as barracuda , Nassau groupers , and sharks This makes

2116-419: Was the victim wearing a personal flotation device (PFD) . Several institutions have tried to change the culture surrounding safety on commercial fishing boats, especially around wearing personal flotation devices. The Alaska Scallop Association mandates that every fisherman must wear a PFD while on deck of the boat, and other organizations have purchased more wearable PFDs. Onboard injuries often result when

#966033