LINE 152 Removal of Alien Fish Species from Matsumoto Dam

On July 25 (Saturday), NTT West Kagoshima Group took part in an activity to remove alien fish species from Matsumoto Dam, which is located in Naoki-cho of Kagoshima City.
There were worries at first that the event might be affected by the approaching typhoon, but the weather turned out clear. A total of 50 employees and family members from NTT West Kagoshima Group engaged in the activity, which lasted for about two hours from 8:30a.m. to 10:30a.m., to remove non-native fish species such as bluegills that inhabit the dam.

This activity to remove alien fish species from Matsumoto Dam was held as part of the NTT West Midori Ippai Project for the first time.

The event commenced with speeches by the chairman and director of Matsumoto Land Improvement District, which provided support to this activity. After explanation of the precautions and other details, participants moved to locations where alien fish species is likely to be found and started to engage in the removal work.

Thanks to the kind arrangement of Matsumoto Land Improvement District, families who participated with their children were brought to spots where fish can be caught in a boat . Bluegills were caught immediately after attaching a bait to the hook and tossing the fishing line into the water. The activity to remove alien fish species was an enjoyable one with laughter from the children.

Alien fish species tends to move to deeper water when the water temperature rises, so no fish was caught at times. Nonetheless, with much patience in waiting, a total of about 300 bluegills were removed, among which 20 of them were about 30cm in size.

Director of Matsumoto Land Improvement District expressed his gratitude to the participants, commenting that the bluegills caught were the largest among the removal activities conducted so far. He added that an adult bluegill with a size of 30cm is able to produce 80,000 eggs, so catching 20 bluegills is equivalent to removing a total of 1.6 million eggs.

Also, materials and information have been prepared for the participants so that students could use them for their summer vacation school research project. We believe that this event has helped to create many fond memories among the NTT Employees and their children who have participated.

NTT West Kagoshima Group will continue to actively promote environmental conservation activities that are closely tied to the local community, including conservation of biodiversity.

Participating companies

NTT West Kagoshima Group

Venue

Matsumoto Dam (Kagoshima City, Naoki-cho)

No. of participants

50