Damage to fisheries infrastructure and products due to waves triggered by the recent eruption of an undersea volcano off the southern Pacific nation of Tonga has been reported in 10 prefectures across Japan, the Fisheries Agency said Friday.
The agency is examining the extent of the damage, which includes the capsizing of fishing boats and mass deaths of horse mackerel.
A total of 37 fishing boats were capsized or damaged by the waves in five prefectures, stretching from Miyagi Prefecture to the Shikoku island prefectures of Tokushima and Kochi, according to reports Thursday.
In Miyazaki Prefecture, about 70,000 horse mackerel for feeding to tuna died. In Okinawa Prefecture, around 20 tons of mozuku seaweed was washed away.
Damage to aquaculture facilities was confirmed in six prefectures, including Iwate, Mie and Miyagi prefectures.
The number of damaged facilities, including those for wakame seaweed in Miyagi and scallops in Iwate, is not yet known.
“We need to pay close attention to the damage while working to figure out the overall situation,” fisheries minister Genjiro Kaneko told a news conference Friday.
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