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Marine Bioresources Environmental Dynamics Lab
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The lab reads changes in ocean currents and water temperature to understand fish distribution and stock fluctuations.
AboutAbout the lab
Unraveling fish population fluctuations through the ocean's physical environment
The lab studies the mechanisms behind the distribution, movement, and fluctuation of marine living resources from the perspective of the ocean's physical environment.
Recent research is increasingly showing that fishery resources such as Japanese sardine and Pacific saury change substantially because of ecosystem changes that begin with fluctuations in the ocean's physical environment.
Using field observations, data analysis, and numerical modeling, the lab investigates the actual structure and variability of the ocean, as well as the relationship between the marine environment and organisms.
The lab also joins research cruises on research vessels and collects ocean data itself.
Key terms
- Numerical modeling
- A method of reproducing ocean currents, fish growth, and other processes through computer calculations, in order to study their mechanisms or make predictions
- Mixed water region
- A sea area off eastern Japan where warm Kuroshio-origin water and cold Oyashio-origin water mix in a complex way. The boundaries between the water masses (shiome) make good fishing grounds
- Environmental DNA (eDNA)
- DNA that organisms shed from their body surface or interior into the water, where it drifts. It makes it possible to survey the distribution of organisms without catching them with nets
NewsLab news
Press release: Elucidating how the Kuroshio large meander reduced the growth and survival of chub mackerel
Press release: "Accelerating Warm Regime Shift in Marine Ecosystems"
Press release: "Ocean Fronts: Paradise or Barrier for Fish?"
A master's student received the Excellent Presentation Award at the master's thesis presentation meeting of the Department of Aquatic Bioscience
A master's student received the Department Chair's Award from the Department of Natural Environmental Studies
ResearchResearch themes
To elucidate and predict the mechanisms behind the distribution, movement, and fluctuation of marine living resources, the lab studies the physical structure and variability of the ocean and the relationship between the marine environment and organisms. It combines methods such as shipboard ocean observations, analysis of fish otoliths and environmental DNA, and numerical models.
*Illustrative imageMarine Environment and Fish Stock Fluctuations
In the northwestern Pacific, the lab studies how fluctuations in the mixed water region between the Oyashio Front and the Kuroshio Extension Front affect marine living resources on the scale of the entire North Pacific. In addition to testing hypotheses with observations, the lab develops hypotheses through numerical experiments.
*Illustrative imageThe Isoguchi Jet and Water Mixing
The Isoguchi Jet is a warm current that branches off from the Kuroshio Extension and flows north. The lab aims to clarify how it mixes with the cold, nutrient-rich water of the Oyashio, using ocean observation data from ships and moorings.
*Illustrative imageExploring Fish Distribution with Environmental DNA
The lab calls the method of analyzing DNA that fish release into seawater in the open ocean OceanDNA, and uses it to investigate fish distribution in relation to ocean fronts. The lab also plans to measure DNA release rates in tanks and develop a technique for estimating fish abundance.
*Illustrative imageEstimating Mackerel Abundance with OceanDNA
By measuring DNA degradation rates in laboratory experiments, the lab is developing a method to estimate fish abundance from the OceanDNA of chub mackerel and spotted mackerel. The lab plans to investigate when the distributions and migrations of these two closely related species overlap and when they diverge.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Environmental Dynamics Lab consist of faculty members, project researchers, international researchers, technical assistants, and doctoral and master's students.As of 2026
- ProfessorShin-Ichi ItoPublications ↗
- ProfessorSachihiko ItohPublications ↗
- Associate ProfessorKosei KomatsuPublications ↗
- Project Assistant ProfessorToshimi NakajimaPublications ↗
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Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “Perpetual ocean2 beauty hw5x3.00340” NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio (Greh Shirah. Horace Mitchell, Laurence Schuler, Ian Jones, Atousa Saberi, Josh Willis, Kathleen Gaeta) / Public domain (cropped)
- Marine Environment and Fish Stock Fluctuations: “Oyashio SST” US Marine / Public domain (cropped)
- The Isoguchi Jet and Water Mixing: “CTD apparatus 01” Joe Mabel / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Exploring Fish Distribution with Environmental DNA: “Fis )” NOAA Photo Library / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Estimating Mackerel Abundance with OceanDNA: “Scombe japo tdp” Wibowo Djatmiko (Wie146) / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
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