Hiroshima Oyster Farmers Face Catastrophic Blow from Mass Deaths

Higashihiroshima, Hiroshima Pref., Nov. 20 (Jiji Press)–The famed oyster industry in Hiroshima Prefecture, western Japan, has been hit by a catastrophic blow from mass deaths at farms. Oyster farms in central Hiroshima have reported that 80-90 pct of their oysters had died, a situation described by the prefectural government as “disastrous.” The root cause of the mass deaths was unknown, whether it be the rising sea temperature or the scarce rain. The prefecture accounts for about 60 pct of the country’s farmed oyster production. Fisheries minister Norikazu Suzuki pledged support for oyster farmers after meeting with them during a trip to the city of Higashihiroshima on Wednesday. “Not even 10 pct have survived,” Tatsuya Morio, a 49-year-old oyster farmer in Higashihiroshima, told Suzuki. Suzuki told reporters that the situation is “dire.” He said, “We’d like to present something that we could do under the current system as soon as possible.” Over 90 pct of oysters have died at a farm run by Shuji Yamane, 50, in the neighboring city of Kure. “I’ve been worried every single day because I can’t even accept (oyster) orders for year-end gifts,” he said. Kure suspended applications for “furusato nozei” hometown donations involving raw oysters as return gifts at the end of last month. For 1,738 cases in which the city has already received donations, officials have been busy replacing the raw oysters with frozen ones or refunding the donations. The manager of an oyster house in the city of Hiroshima that uses oysters from the western part of the prefecture said that it is concerned about a limited supply. “We’re worried if we’ll be able to secure oysters and whether prices will skyrocket,” said the manager of the oyster house, which goes through 1 ton of oysters in a peak month. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]