A survey of fish fauna and water quality was conducted using environmental DNA throughout the Chikuma River and Shinano River!

From Monday, June 5 to Tuesday, June 6, 2023, a survey of fish fauna using environmental DNA was conducted throughout the Chikuma River and Shinano River. Associate Professor Sakie Kodama and Researcher Alessandra Cera were in charge of the upper and middle reaches, and Professor Hiroshi Hakoyama was in charge of the lower reaches. As a continuation of last year’s survey, in addition to the fish survey using environmental DNA, a water quality survey for neonicotinoid pesticides and other substances was conducted this year. It will be interesting to see the results at this time of year when pesticides are used on rice fields.

This survey is being conducted as part of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism’s general research project “The Importance of Habitat Continuity in Rivers - Impact Assessment and Conservation Measures for River Ecosystems” under the Regional Issue Field (River Ecology) of the River Erosion Control Technology Research and Development Regional Issue Field, and a large-scale project by a research group formed by the Institute of Freshwater Biology, Shinshu University, and the Nagano Prefectural Fisheries Experimental Station.