The achievement meant that the cooperative attracted attention from the media, retailers and processors. With help from WWF Japan, they applied for ASC certification, and in 2016, just five years after the tsunami, they became the first ASC certified farm in Japan.
#Miyagi oysters free
This improved productivity and encouraged oysters workers to maintain their income and have more time free for other things they valued and lowering the risks associated with potential future natural disasters.Īfter completing the pilot programme, the cooperative wanted to demonstrate the important changes they had implemented to make their practices more responsible and future-focused. As part of the pilot programme, the cooperative reduced the farming density to around 300 rafts, managed by 32 farmers. There were more than 1,000 rafts before the 2011 tsunami, and productivity and growth rate was often poor. One big change made was to reduce the number of farming rafts. With help from WWF Japan and a government grant, the cooperative entered a three-year pilot programme to promote more environmentally sustainable and responsible practices. However, for the remaining farmers from the Miyagi Prefecture Fisheries, the destruction of the tsunami brought into focus the importance of thinking about future generations, and they decided to use the opportunity to look at their farming practices. It wasn’t clear if farming would continue, and many longstanding farmers understandably felt unable to return. Oysters had been farmed in the area for over a century and had survived previous tsunamis, but in 2011 most of the aquaculture facilities were destroyed, the farmers’ homes were destroyed, and lives were lost. The 2011 Tohoku earthquake and devastating tsunami that followed destroyed many lives, with at least 15,897 casualties and around 2,500 people declared missing.Ĭommunities were also affected, including that of the oyster farmers in Shizugawa Bay in the Miyagi Prefecture.
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