TOKYO (kyodo) -- A salvage agency started full-fledged operations Sunday to remove fishing boats sunk, stranded or dumped inland by the March 11 earthquake-triggered tsunami in Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture.
More than 40 ships of 20 tons or more fell victim when the disaster hit the coastal city, according to the local chamber of commerce.
The agency plans to remove sunken or stranded vessels at the port by the end of May so it can secure the safety of sea routes and to complete the removal of ships washed ashore by September.
In Iwaki in Fukushima Prefecture, another disaster-hit prefecture on the Pacific coast of northeastern Japan, a local fishery cooperative said it plans to resume bonito fishing as early as in late May.
Tetsu Nozaki, head of the cooperative, said, "To take the lead in restoration efforts, we will do whatever we can to haul in fish at Iwaki."
Four of the cooperative's seven vessels were damaged by the tsunami, so it will use the remaining three ships and one borrowed from a regional federation of fishery associations to which it belongs in forming a fleet to restart operations.
The fleet is expected to operate in waters stretching from Choshi, Chiba Prefecture, in the north to Hachijo Island, nearly 300 kilometers from Tokyo, in the south and will ask the Fukushima prefectural government to analyze catch samples for traces of radioactive materials.
The magnitude 9.0 quake and ensuing tsunami caused extensive damage to Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures in northeastern Japan and triggered a nuclear crisis at an atomic power plant in Fukushima Prefecture.
Meanwhile, an evacuation drill was held at a shelter in Ofutano, Iwate Prefecture, where around 100 evacuees still live, assuming a scenario of a tsunami triggered by a magnitude 8.4 quake off Miyagi Prefecture to prepare for another tsunami that could be more destructive as the one last month destroyed breakwaters in the area.
The people staying at the community hall located around 10 meters above sea level, where a giant tsunami stopped just short on March 11, evacuated to a hill about 200 meters away after hearing a simulated message on the public address system calling on them to evacuate.
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