Yoshio Yatsu, head of the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry, on Friday expressed qualified readiness to open the lock gates of a huge reclamation dike that traverses Isahaya Bay in Nagasaki Prefecture.

"We cannot help opening the water gates if even a single panelist makes a remark calling for the opening of the gates," Yatsu told reporters in reference to a panel of third-party experts that will convene at his ministry today.

About half of the 15 panelists on the committee are critical of the 7,050-meter-long dike cutting part of the bay off from the sea.

Many fishermen from the area surrounding the bay and environmentalist groups have been demanding the government open the gates and halt the reclamation project designed to create 1,400 hectares of farmland.

They hold the 249 billion yen project and the resultant change in the ecosystem responsible for the season's poor seaweed crop in the Ariake Sea.

Yatsu also suggested he is ready to go to Nagasaki to persuade the Nagasaki Prefectural Government, a key proponent of the reclamation project, to accept the proposed opening of the sea gates.

Isahaya Bay is part of the Ariake Sea, an almost landlocked body of water encircled by the prefectures of Nagasaki, Kumamoto, Saga and Fukuoka.

Local seaweed farmers allege that since the huge dike sealed off part of the bay in 1997, the seaweed crop from the inland sea has been damaged.

"Nori" seaweed is a common ingredient in Japanese cooking and is used to wrap some types of sushi. Ariake Sea nori is considered a top variety.

Environment Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi told a separate news conference she would accept the opening of the gates if the third-party committee finds that it is necessary.

Kawaguchi said she is contemplating protecting the ecosystem of the Ariake Sea by drafting a bill similar to the existing law designed to shield the Seto Inland Sea from industrial pollution.