Japan Press Weekly

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2010 December 15 - 21 [POLITICS]

State decides not to appeal, Isahaya dike to open

Prime Minister Kan Naoto on December 15 announced that the government will not appeal against the Fukuoka High Court order to open the Isahaya Bay drainage gates. The Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries Ministry will open the gates from FY 2012.

Fishermen of four prefectures on the coast of the Sea of Ariake have been fighting in court to demand that the gates be opened. They have suffered serious economic loss since the agriculture ministry closed two drainage gates over the 7 km dike in 1997, allegedly to serve for flood control and to increase reclaimed farm land.

A fishermen’s association complained that the shell catch, which was 2.2 billion yen a year in a good season, fell to 0.3 billion yen after the gates were closed. In 2000, the nori sea weed harvest was extremely poor.

Fishermen have struggled for the revival of the Sea of Ariake by going to court and organizing on-sea demonstrations involving 300 fishing boats. It was on the third day of their sit-in in front of the Agriculture Ministry building in Tokyo when they heard of the prime minister’s decision not to appeal.

Kokuta Keiji, Japanese Communist Party Diet Policy Commission chair, at a news conference on the same day said that the decision is most welcome as it is the result of the united efforts of fishermen, citizens and lawyers for many years. He called on the government to immediately prepare for the opening of the gates.

He also said the need is for the government is to make serious efforts to compensate for the damage the fishermen and farmers have suffered.
-Akahata, December 16, 2010