05/04 Quake-ravaged village keeps busy disposing of tons of fish

Quake-ravaged village keeps busy disposing of tons of fish

Villagers dispose of fish in a cold storage room damaged by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Ofutano, Iwate Prefecture, on April 4. (Mainichi)

OFUNATO, Iwate -- Residents in this tiny coastal fishing village are toiling to dispose of hundreds of metric tons of fish after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami battered refrigerated warehouses.

Marine products such as saury, mackerel and squid are no longer fit for sale after cold-storage rooms were heavily damaged. Villagers have been unwrapping the fish and burying them in the ground since the end of March.

"I can't repress my tears when I see the miserable state of fish the workers here worked hard to process and produce. I want to do my best to resume business by August when the fishing season sets in," said Koji Izumida, a senior official of a fish processing firm.

Click here for the original Japanese story

(Mainichi Japan) April 5, 2011

東日本大震災：「涙出る」サンマなど大量処分　大船渡

売り物にならなくなり、処分されるサンマ＝岩手県大船渡市で２０１１年４月４日、矢頭智剛撮影

　岩手県大船渡市末崎町の山岸冷蔵の冷凍保管室で大量のサンマやサバ、イカを処分する作業が続いている。

　地震と津波で保管室が被害を受け、冷凍サンマなど約８００トンが売り物にならなくなった。３月末から従業員らが包装紙やビニールなどを分別し、サンマは土に埋めている。

　業務部長の泉田幸治さん（６３）は「従業員が残業して加工・製造した魚のあわれな姿を見ると涙が出る。魚が取れる８月までに事業を再開するよう、がんばりたい」と言葉に力を込めた。【矢頭智剛】