Fishers decrease 24% in 3 Japan prefectures hardest hit by 2011 disaster
Membership in fisheries cooperatives in the three northeastern Japan prefectures hardest hit by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami tumbled 24.4 percent after the disaster, sharper than the national average, a Kyodo News tally based on data from their unions showed Thursday.
The sharp decrease came as members abandoned the industry after losing their homes or fishing boats in the massive tsunami or evacuating their hometowns due to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear crisis, officials of the cooperatives said.
Fishing boats anchored at a port in Soma, Fukushima Prefecture, are pictured on March 3, 2021. (Kyodo)
The total number of fisheries cooperative members in the three prefectures Miyagi, Iwate and Fukushima fell to 19,910 at the end of 2019 from 26,325 at the end of 2010, around two months before the disaster, according to prefecture-wide bodies.