The Saga District Court ordered the government Friday to start paying a penalty to fishermen in two months unless it opens the floodgates of the Isahaya Bay dike in Nagasaki Prefecture as ordered by a high court.

It also ordered the floodgates, closed in 1997 as part of a government reclamation project opposed by local fishermen, to remain open for five years for assessment.

After the ruling, farm minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said the government will appeal the ruling to the Fukuoka High Court and request that the levying of penalties on the state for defying the high court ruling be halted.