The Fisheries Agency released a plan Tuesday for restoring the fisheries industry in the Tohoku region that was devastated by the earthquake and tsunami in March.
The agency calls for rebuilding fishing communities in the hardest-hit prefectures of Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima in two years by constructing new breakwaters and evacuation facilities, while tapping private sector investment to speed up the recovery and provide better opportunities for fishermen to begin working again.
Funding needed for the reconstruction will be earmarked in the third extra budget for fiscal 2011.
The disaster in March inflicted more than ¥1 trillion in damage on the fisheries industry and destroyed almost all the fishing ports in the three severely stricken prefectures.
The agency hopes to see about half of the coastal fishing boats that operated in the affected areas before the disaster resume work within three years.