Tohoku's fishermen are beginning to challenge the traditional fisheries system by establishing their own companies so they can have more control over prices and other aspects of the business.

"Going back to the way it was before the 3/11 tsunami is not enough, because the amount of the debt and the size of the market is completely different," said seaweed harvester Shota Abe, 27, who recently set up the fishing company Hamanto with 12 colleagues in the Jusanhama district. "We have to create a new system that allows us fishermen to take more control of our products."

The current system is controlled by the Fisheries Cooperative Association, a local entity that has a vested interest in fishing rights. Historically, the cooperative holds a joint sale to set prices, which depend heavily on middlemen, among other factors. Since the fish go through several middlemen before reaching consumers, the prices climb, eating into their profit.