6,000 prime flounder die after extreme heat raised seawater temperatures in west Japan

KUDAMATSU, Yamaguchi — Some 6,000 high-grade flounder have died at a farming center here apparently after seawater temperatures were pushed up by the extreme heat this year, it was announced on Oct. 1.

The Kudamatsu city fisheries promotion fund association, a public interest incorporated foundation funded by the Kudamatsu Municipal Government in Yamaguchi Prefecture, announced the death of approximately 6,000 “Kasado hirame” flounder at the Kudamatsu City Center for Stock Enhancement it runs on Kasado Island.

While the center normally farms some 8,000 flounder around this time of the year, there currently remain only about 2,700 of the fish, or 30% of the normal count. The center is limiting shipments due to unstable supplies.

According to the association, the number of flounder that stopped eating and looked languish increased from Sept. 10 following the passage of Typhoon Shanshan. By Sept. 30, approximately 6,000 flounder had died, leaving the association with financial damage of some 7 million yen (about $49,000).

Kasado flounder, which are usually shipped throughout the year, are farmed by constantly pouring seawater into indoor tanks. However, there is no way to lower the seawater temperatures inside the tanks. While the temperature inside the tanks had stayed at around 26 degrees Celsius through Sept. 10, it then jumped to as high as 29.5 C. Officials said they will have to keep shipment restrictions in place until next summer, when juvenile fish to be added to the tanks will have grown large enough for shipments.

(Japanese original by Yoshiyuki Mineshita, Shunan Bureau)