CNN news 2011-04-13
AZUZ: Parts of Japan were rattled by a recent seismic event. Not the massive earthquake that hit last month. We're talking about a new quake that struck on Thursday. The U.S. Geological Survey said this one had a magnitude of 7.1. It's not as powerful as last month's quake, but it did happen in the same area, off the northeast coast of Japan. This new quake was closer to the coast and it led to some tsunami warnings, but those were canceled within 90 minutes. There were no reports of any casualties inside the quake zone. We've reported on the original quake and tsunami disaster's impact on Japan's economy, on its young people. But it's also had a devastating impact on some of the nation's fishermen. Paula Hancocks has that story for us now.
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Boat carcasses litter the coastline of northeast Japan. The country's biggest earthquake ever, followed by a devastating tsunami, followed by a raging fire in at least two port cities. And now, radioactive water is being pumped into the sea. The Japanese government says it was an unavoidable emergency measure, but Japan's fishermen are desperate.
Kazuo Sato inspects his oyster floats, forced almost a kilometer inland by the tsunami, to see what can be salvaged. Only the rope is of any use. For three generations, his family has been farming oysters and scallops in the shallow waters of the Pacific Ocean. He puts little stock in government assurances that the release poses no major health risk.
KAZUO SATO, OYSTER FARMER: He says, "None of us can trust what the real safety level of radiation in seawater is, because the government keeps changing it based on what nuclear plants need. It makes me so angry."
HANCOCKS: Sato knows it will take a long time to restore faith in Japanese fish and seafood, even within Japan itself. Authorities estimate that in Iwate prefecture, where we are, around 96% of all boats have either been destroyed or they're still missing after the tsunami. Even without the contamination in the water, fears the fishing industry here has been decimated.
The fish market at the port of Kesennuma is deserted. Locals say they want it open again by July, but don't know if many will be fishing by then. Wataru Ito is cleaning up the fish processing plant he works in.
WATARU ITO, FISH PROCESSING WORKER: He says, "It's going to take at least 2 years to get everything back to normal."
HANCOCKS: Even those whose boats are still intact are not fishing.
YOSHIICHI MIURA, KESENNUMA FISHERMAN: This fisherman says, "I can't find where my nets and tools were washed to."
HANCOCKS: An area once bustling with fishermen, now a boat graveyard. Paula Hancocks, CNN, Rikuzenkataka, Japan.