Patagonia is cool enough to turn a fishing net into a jacket.

Patagonia has always been ethical, even before the SDGs. They have persistently tackled environmental and social issues, and have actually solved numerous problems. This time is no different. The company has successfully converted fishing nets, which have become a problem as marine plastic, into clothing fabric. The name of the fabric is "NetPlus®︎. The company's first destination was the Shonan Fujisawa area, carrying a colorful green down jacket made from the fabric. Ryo Kaise, who enjoys ocean fishing in his private time and has a wide range of livelihoods from making clothes to making bonito soup, talked to us about the ocean, environmental issues, this item, and Patagonia as a company.

Photo_Hioryuki Takenouchi

Text_Shinri Kobayashi

Edit_Keisuke Kimura

What happens when the sea changes?

You have been sea fishing and going out to the mountains for a long time, but how do you feel about the current outdoor boom?

KAISE:Surfers and anglers have really increased, but I think the period of self-restraint was a period that served as a gateway to the outdoors in a positive way. As a result, many people feel closer to nature and want to protect the environment. I see this as a good thing.

For you, is the ocean a playground for fishing?

KAISE:A playground ... hmmm, I don't know. （I also run "Nikata" (a brand of additive-free, salt-free bonito flakes), and I come to the beach every day, even when it rains, so it feels a bit like a place of work. But I don't know, the ocean is a little too close. . There are days when I don't go to the convenience store, but I come to the beach every day.

These rough stones are evidence that the soil was brought in from elsewhere," says KAISE.

. I'm sure you feel the sea change every day.

KAISE:Recently, I heard that a beautiful tropical fish like the one caught in Hawaii has been caught in Hokkaido . Also, the price of saury has been rising year after year, not only because of overfishing, but also because global warming has raised the temperature of sea water, and saury, which prefer cold water, do not come to the outskirts of Japan very often. . It is probably due to global warming, isn't it? . When it comes to environmental issues, the scariest thing is to turn a blind eye.

Are there any other topics of environmental destruction that you are interested in?

KAISE:Is it a linear motor car? At a total cost of 7 trillion yen, it is said to be able to travel from Tokyo to Nagoya in about 40 minutes and to Osaka in about 67 minutes, but who is asking for such a thing by cutting down to the mountains? . And. Something could happen because a 500 km/h mass is going over the mountains, and since the mountains are being cut down, the ecosystem will change, too, won't it? . and it will be impossible to put it back.

. make good use of the existing Shinkansen and not build a new one. I guess there are people who will benefit economically, but I wonder if it is necessary to destroy the nature in this small Japan to build it.