Giant jellyfish invasion off Japan, China and South Korea

Giant jellyfish called Echizen kurage have invaded territorial waters off Japan, China and South Korea, prompting a top-level summit to deal with the menace.



Nearly 2m wide and weighing 200kg, with countless poisonous tentacles, they have drifted across the void to terrorise the people of Japan.

"Echizen kurage" is not an extraterrestrial invader but a giant jellyfish that is devastating the livelihoods of fishermen in the Japan Sea. Nomura's jellyfish, as it is known in English, is the biggest creature of its kind off Japan and, for reasons that remain mysterious, its numbers have surged in the past few months.

The problem has become so serious that fishery officials from Japan, China and South Korea are to meet this month for a "jellyfish summit" to discuss strategies for dealing with the invasion.

Previously found mainly in the Yellow Sea, the Echizen's sting can be fatal, causing a build-up of fluid in the lungs. Victims take up to a day to die. There have been eight reported death from an Echizen sting.

Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party has formed a jellyfish countermeasures committee and resourceful fishermen are at work on technology to keep the gelatinous marauders out of their nets.

The problem first became obvious in the late northern summer, when fishermen chasing anchovies, salmon and yellowtail began finding huge numbers of the jellyfish in their nets.

Often, the weight of the Echizen kurage had broken the nets or crushed the fish to death. Those that survived were poisoned and beslimed by their tentacles.

Fishermen on the northern tip of Honshu, Japan's main island, were forced to suspend their work at the height of the lucrative salmon season.

In Akita prefecture, some communities saw their incomes fall by 80 per cent.

The gizzard shad (herring) fishers of South Korea have also been plagued by the troublesome creature.

In some places, jellyfish density is reported to be a hundred times higher than normal and no one yet understands why.

One theory is that global warming is heating up the seawater and encouraging jellyfish breeding.

Some observers blame heavy rains in China over the summer, which flowed out from China's rivers and propelled abnormal numbers of Echizen kurage towards Japan.

Others have suggested overfishing has allowed the growth of the populations of plankton on which the jellyfish feed.

Screens and meshes have been designed that allow fish through but keep out anything bigger, and a web of metal wires can be placed inside a net to chop the jellyfish to pieces.

In the meantime, local people are making the best of their problem; rather than just complaining about it, they are eating it.

Jellyfish are an unusual ingredient of Japanese cuisine but are much more prized in China.

Coastal communities are doing their best to promote jellyfish as a novelty food, sold dried and salted.

Students in Obama have managed to turn them into tofu, and jellyfish collagen is reported to be beneficial to the skin.

Sources: www.thecouriermail.news.com.au, www.timesonline.co.uk and www.divester.com