Yasunori Sakurai

Yasunori Sakurai is professor at Graduate School of Fisheries Sciences, Hokkaido University, Hakodate, Hokkaido, Japan. He started the scientific career as a marine biologist at Graduate School of Fisheries, Hokkaido University in 1977 and took later a dr. degree in reproductive biology of walleye pollock, Theragra chalocogramma.

He has worked with the reproductive biology, strategy, and stock fluctuations of gadid fish (walleye pollock, Pacific cod, and Arctic cod), cephalopods (ommastrephid and loliginid squids) related to climate change. He has also worked with the biology of marine mammals (Steller sealion and seals). He has been working with both captive and field observations. As professor at Hokkaido University he is lecturing in marine ecology. Sakurai was member of Japan-GLOBEC, Cephalopod International Advisory Counsel (CIAC) and PICES Programme after the early 1990s. He is also Chair of the Japan-GLOBEC Programme from 2004. He has directed a number of national research projects and programmes focus on sustainable and responsible fisheries, and ecosystem-based management affected by climate change and human activity. Sakurai is a member of the Scientific Steering Committee of the Ecosystem Studies of Sub-Arctic Seas (ESSAS) and the Chair of Japanese Society of Fisheries Oceanography (JSFO) after 2009.

Selected publications

M. Makino, H. Matsuda, Y. Sakurai: Expanding fisheries co-management to ecosystem-based management: A case in the Shiretoko World Natural Heritage area, Japan. Marine Policy, doi:10.1016/j.marpol.2008.05.013 (2008)
H. Kidokoro, Y. Sakurai: Influence of environmental condition on the gonadal development and emaciation of the Japanese common squid Todarodes pacificus (Ommastrephidae). Fisheries Science, 74: 553-561 (2008)
Y. Sakurai: An overview of Oyashio Ecosystem. Deep-Sea Research II, 54: 2525-2542 (2007)
O. Shida, T. Hamatsu, A. Nishimura, A. Suzaki, J. Yamamoto, K. Miyashita and Y. Sakurai: Interannual fluctuations in recruitment of walleye pollock in the Oyashio region related to environmental changes. Deep-Sea Research II, 54: 2822-2831 (2007)
N. Ando, T. Isono and Y. Sakurai: Trace elements in the teeth of Steller sea lions (Eumetopias jubatus) from the North Pacific. Ecological Research, 20: 415-423 (2005)
P. R. Rigby and Y. Sakurai: Multidimentional tracking of giant Pacific octopuses in northern Japan reveals unexpected foraging behaviour. Marine Technology Society Journal, 39(1): 64-67 (2005)
T. Deguchi, Y. Goto and Y. Sakurai: Importance of walleye pollock (Theragra chalcogramma) to wintering ribbon seals (Phoca fasciata) in Nemuro Strait, Hokkaido Japan. Mammal Study, 29: 55-63 (2004)
Y. Sakurai, J. R. Bower and Y. Ikeda: Reproductive characteristics of the ommastrephid squid Todarodes pacificus. Fisken og Havet. 12: 105-115 (2003)
Y. Sakurai, H. Kiyofuji, S. Saitoh, T. Goto, and Y. Hiyama: Changes in inferred spawning areas of Todarodes pacificus (Cephalopoda: Ommastrephidae) due to changing environmental conditions. ICES Journal of Marine Science, 57: 24-30 (2000)
Y. Sakurai and T. Hattori: Reproductive behavior of Pacific cod in captivity. Fisheries Science,62: 222-228 (1996)
Y. Sakurai, J. R. Bower, Y. Nakamura, S. Yamamoto and K. Watanabe: Effects of temperature on development and survival of Todarodes pacificus embryos and paralarvae. American Malacological Bulletin, 13: 89-95 (1996)
Y. Sakurai, R. E. Young, J. Hirota, K. Mangold, M. Vecchione, M. R. Clarke and J. R. Bower: Artificial fertilization and development through hatching in the oceanic squids Ommastrephes bartramii and Sthenoteuthis oualaniensis. The Veliger, 38: 185-191 (1995).

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