Haruyuki Kanehiro

• Otsuma Women's University

To investigate biodegradability of so-called biodegradable plastics in deep sea, degrading behavior of aliphatic polyesters poly(ɛ-caprolactone) [PCL], poly(β-hydroxybutyrate/valerate) [PHB/V], and poly(butyrene succinate) [PBS] in deep seawaters were evaluated at Rausu, Toyama, and Kume, Japan. After 12 months of soaking in deep seawaters, PCL and...

We have isolated thirteen different bacterial strains as poly ε-caprolactone (PCL)-degrading bacteria from the Kurile and Japan Trenches at a depth of 5,000-7,000 m (deeper ocean bottoms). The isolates belong to the Shewanella, Moritella, Psychrobacter and Pseudomonas genera. This is the first record of PCL degrading bacteria isolated from deep-sea...

Biodegradabilities of aliphatic polyester fibers and natural fibers were evaluated in deep sea water at the depth of about 2000 m offshore of Tottori Prefecture and deep sea water pumped up from the depth of 321 m at 2600 m offshore in Toyama bay. The breaking strengths of all soaked fibers decreased considerably in one year. On the surfaces of the...

Sea algal paste was obtained by soaking brown alga in sodium carbonate solution and was found to have a flocculating effect on muddy water in the presence of calcium chloride as a cross linking agent. This technique does not involve the extraction of alginic acid and production of secondary waste. The sea alga paste obtained by soaking in sodium ca...

A small number of fishers in Chiba Prefecture of eastern Japan use cotton gill nets to catch Japanese spiny lobster Panulirus japonicus. To examine the advantages of cotton gill nets, we analyzed changes in mesh breaking load of a new cotton gill net used in a fishing operation. A new cotton gill net was also soaked in a seawater tank to simulate g...

Concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in beached resin pellets were examined to reveal variability between individual particles and differences among beaches. Fifty-five resin pellets from a beach in Tokyo were individually analyzed for PCBs, and showed concentrations ranging from <28 to 2,300 ng/g. This indicates that concentrations a...

Fishing net wastes generating from fisheries amounts to about 2,000 tons/year. Most fishing net wastes are made with only a single type of plastic and they are suited to recycling. As for disposal of fishing net wastes, “material recycling” and “chemical recycling” are now positioned as a rational and efficient method. Of the wasted netting materia...

Tensile and knot fatigue property of high-performance polyethylene (HPPE), regular polyethylene (PE), nylon multifilament (PAmu), and nylon monofilament (PAmo) under cyclic loading conditions were investigated. The durability of HPPE under tensile fatigue testing was largest, followed by PAmo, PAmu and PE. In knot fatigue, the largest was PAmo, fol...

Resin pellets as a raw material of industrial plastic products are widespread in the coastal waters and beaches of the world. In this study, the distribution and abundance of the pellets were investigated on the coastal area (30 beaches) of Tokyo Bay and Sagami Bay. In most stations surveyed, the pellets were found (93% of total stations) and were...

The effect of notch damage on the tensile strength and fatigue life of branch line used in tuna longline were investigated both in dry and wet condition. A razor blade was used for making an artificial notch on the surface of nylon monofilament lines at various depths. The result of tensile testing indicated that the tensile strength of notched nyl...

Flume tank experiments were conducted to clarify the relationship among tied-eye position, line tension and diving behavior of crank bait lures with different shapes of lip. Experimental lure-lips having the same area and different aspect ratio (λ = 0.3, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0) in the plane view were made. Trial lures with the same body were used in th...

Plastic resin pellets (small granules 0.1-0.5 centimeters in diameter) are widely distributed in the ocean all over the world. They are an industrial raw material for the plastic industry and are unintentionally released to the environment both during manufacturing and transport. They are sometimes ingested by seabirds and other marine organisms, a...