HAKODATE, Hokkaido--Hundreds of tons of dead sardines washed up on a beach in northern Japan, prompting speculation a school of fish was suddenly deprived of oxygen for some reason.
A silver blanket of dead fish covered a roughly 1.5-kilometer stretch of shoreline around Toi fishing port in southern Hakodate on the northernmost main island of Hokkaido.
Officials estimated that at least 1,000 tons of mostly sardines but some mackerel washed ashore Dec. 7 but made clear the figure could be higher.
City authorities, along with the Oshima Regional Promotion Bureau of the Hokkaido prefectural government, will work local fishermen from Dec. 9 to begin cleaning up the area and disposing of the dead fish.
No time frame has been set for completion of the task.
City officials warned people not to eat the fish. As the fish are covered in sand, the officials said they cannot be used as food or fertilizer for fish farming. Incineration is being considered, but the sheer mass of fish to be collected presents a daunting challenge.
Takashi Fujioka, a Hakodate Fisheries Research Institute specialist attached to the Hokkaido Research Organization, said the fish were mainly Japanese sardine 15 to 22 centimeters in length and chub mackerel 27 to 37 cm in length.
Fujioka said he believes the fish were on their way south to the main island of Honshu and it is possible they died en masse after they entered a low-temperature zone that mysteriously weakened and killed them.
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December 09, 2023 at 09:20AM
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Hundreds of tons of dead fish wash up in Hokkaido; experts puzzled | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan ... - 朝日新聞デジタル
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