Over 10,000 dead fish found on Shimane shore

September 10, 2022

Local media have been reporting the discovery of thousands of dead fish on the the Nakaumi lagoon on the Japan Sea coast of Shimane Prefecture.

TSS reports that on the morning of September 7, a local resident contacted Yasugi City Hall to report seeing a large number of dead fish on the shoreline of the Nakaumi lagoon which connects Matsue beauty spot Lake Shinji with the Japan Sea. Officials later found dead fish all along a 2km stretch of the lagoon.

The Izumo River Office has been collecting the fish, finding species such as spotnape ponyfish (hiiragi), flathead grey mullet (bora) and Japanese seabass (suzuki), and Chugoku Shinbun reports that 10,200 had been recovered as of September 8.

The cause is of mass dying is believed to be a change in the condition of the seawater due to strong winds caused by Typhoon No. 11, which passed through the region last week, resulting in the fish running out of oxygen.

Sources: TSS