Hiroshima Prefecture boasts of being Japan's No. 1 producer of oysters, which have traditionally only been available in the colder months. Now oystermen are working to turn them into a summer delicacy, too.

Fishermen and fisheries industry officials along with the municipality of Etajima are trying to substantially increase the production of summer oysters by establishing a group to promote sales of oysters and other fisheries products.

They raised summer oysters artificially and marketed about 10 kg of them in summer 2005 and about 20 kg last summer with a technique developed by the Fisheries Ocean Technology Center of the Technology Research Institute of Hiroshima Prefecture.