A glass of water identifies “bears 1 km upstream!　Amazing Power of “Environmental DNA” Introduced by Akita Prefecture

Identifying bears with a glass of water

Early after hibernation, bears are beginning to appear in urban areas. While local governments are taking various measures against bears, Akita Prefecture introduced last fall an “environmental DNA” survey to detect bear DNA in river and lake water.

With a glass of water, we can estimate how many bears were present within 1 km upstream in a 24-hour period.

says Mr. Masaki Nakatani of Fishpath Inc.

If a bear walks in a river, its hair falls out. When a bear drinks water, saliva is left behind. Such minute traces can be analyzed for DNA.

Fishpath is a company that supports river fishing. When fishing in rivers and lakes, anglers must purchase a recreational fishing ticket from the local fishery cooperative that has jurisdiction over the area. For such anglers and fishing cooperatives, Fishpass has developed a smartphone application that allows anglers to purchase tickets 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Fishing cooperatives need to conduct regular resource surveys, which until now required specialized techniques and manpower, such as scooping with nets or using electric shockers to float fish, which was not good for the natural environment. This is why the company started the “Environmental DNA” business to support fishing cooperatives.

By scooping water, the company can determine what kind and how many fish are present 1 km upstream within 24 hours, based on the fish scales and feces contained in the water.

Why did Fishpath embark on a bear countermeasure program?

A fisherman in Akita Prefecture, with whom we had a relationship through the recreational fishing ticket business, was attacked by a bear and seriously injured. This led us to investigate the environmental DNA of bears. (Mr. Nakatani)

Alerting the public to the presence of bears before sightings

What measures can be taken by analyzing environmental DNA to determine where and how many bears are present?

‘Based on scientific evidence, we can set traps where bears are most likely to be present. By knowing how far bears have entered the area and where there are many bears, we can alert the public.

Last year, Akita Prefecture had the highest number of bear sightings in Japan, with 13,592. Many people fear that a bear may have been spotted if they hear a rustling sound in the grass, he said,

But many people fear that a rustling sound in the grass may be a wild boar. By examining environmental DNA, we can eliminate unnecessary fears.

Even in Akita Prefecture, there have been few bear sightings around the Oga Peninsula. In Akita Prefecture, there have been few reports of bear sightings around the Oga Peninsula, and the team plans to investigate areas where “it is not known whether bears are present or not.

The government has also introduced　Expanding Environmental DNA

Environmental DNA technology was developed about 10 years ago. In the beginning, it sometimes took a bucket of water to analyze environmental DNA, but now it takes only a glass of water to examine not only rivers and lakes, but also oceans and sewage systems.

We can even analyze it in soil and air,” he said. If we can get bear DNA from bear claw marks and find human DNA there, we can tell that a bear that attacked a human was there.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism has already decided to use environmental DNA for the census of rivers and waterways, and some major general contractors are now analyzing environmental DNA from soil before, during, and after construction is completed.

I think it will help us when we build our offshore wind farms.” I think it will become quite prevalent in the realm of environmental assessment.”

The Red Data List of endangered species is updated every 10 years. The Red Data List of Threatened Species is updated every 10 years, and environmental DNA analysis is also used for that survey,

We at Fishpath will be entrusted with the fish survey.

I thought he might be shifting his attention to the fish, but he concluded, “We are trying to avoid encounters with bears.

Perhaps to avoid encounters with bears, the number of anglers in Akita Prefecture has dropped dramatically over the past two or three years. If there is scientific evidence that there are no bears or that bears are not coming, people can enjoy fishing with peace of mind. I would like to help with that through environmental DNA analysis.”