Farmers’ attempt to solve the problem faced by fishermen is now being made to achieve a successful result at Tsubetsu-cho located in the north-eastern part of Hokkaido. The keyword of their joint project is a “starfish.”
The farmer’s organization is taking an initiative to produce the compost for local farmers with the starfish which are natural enemies of the scallops. The scallop is one of the major specialties of the Tsubetsu town, but the scallop culture in the sea has been damaged by the starfish.
Plenty of starfish are being delivered to the compost center of JA Tsubetsu. (Tsubetsu-cho, Hokkaido)
This joint project has been carried out by three partners of Tsubetsu Agricultural Cooperative (JA), Abashiri Fisheries Cooperative and Nishi-Abashiri Fisheries Cooperative since 2013.
The two fisheries cooperatives expect to reduce the cost of disposing the starfish with a success of the joint project, while a cost reduction in the compost materials will be beneficial for the JA.
Experiments on the “starfish compost” will be successfully completed by the JA this year, which plans to start its full-scale supply business of the compost for its member farmers from the next year.
In addition to this project, people of the JA Tsubetsu are also continuing to plant trees, in collaboration with the fisheries cooperatives at the mountain areas of the upper reaches of the local river running into the sea, for the purpose of keeping its water quality favorable for marine resources. Those people in the cooperative sector are expanding their joint activities to protect the sustainable links between land, rivers and seas.