Nearly 90 percent of fishermen who mainly make their living off the Ariake Sea think the Isahaya Bay land reclamation project is the cause of their poor catch, according to a survey by a fishermen's association.

The survey of 161 fishermen showed that 89 percent of the respondents believe the government project to fill in part of the bay to create farmland and a reservoir has led to the poor sea harvest in recent years, the association told a symposium in Tokyo over the weekend.

The 700-strong association includes fishermen in Fukuoka, Saga, Nagasaki and Kumamoto prefectures.