Economic Challenges of Post-Tsunami Reconstruction and Redevelopment: A Case Study of the Recovery of Longline Fisheries from the 2011 Great Tohoku Earthquake/Tsunami

Suggested Bibliographic Reference: Challenging New Frontiers in the Global Seafood Sector: Proceedings of the Eighteenth Biennial Conference of the International Institute of Fisheries Economics and Trade, July 11-15, 2016. Compiled by Stefani J. Evers and Ann L. Shriver. International Institute of Fisheries Economics and Trade (IIFET), Corvallis, 2016.Proceedings of the Eighteenth Biennial Conference of the International Institute of Fisheries Economics and Trade, held July 11-15, 2016 at Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Center (AECC), Aberdeen, Scotland, UK.Fisheries and coastal communities in the northern Tohoku , Japan were severely affected by the Great Tohoku Earthquake and subsequent mega-tsunamis on March 11, 2011. This study aims at exploring the macroeconomic strategies for the recovery of the fishing community with a case of the impacts of this disaster on the off-shore longline fishery by evaluating their efforts of reforming their operations to build resilience to uncertainties and their economic outcomes in the process of recovery. The off-shore longline fishery in Kesennuma mainly target swordfish and blue shark, was one of the few survived fishing vessel groups and has significant economic effects of this community due to the integrated operations of processing industries associating. From April 2012, under one of the national fishery recovery initiatives, they have shifted to group operations from individual operations to rationalize and optimize the production by sharing information. This study analyses the data set of log-book (catch location, fuel consumption, operational costs), outcomes of the input-output analysis, daily market data of their individual landings (i.e., price, size) in pre and post mega-tsunami. This study concludes by addressing challenges and strategies of the off-shore longline fisheries and associate industries caused by external market factors and the delay of infrastructure reconstruction. Our analysis suggests that optimum macroeconomic management strategies with sector integrated approaches rather than sector specific ones. This study ends with implications for future strategies for the recovery of fishing community from disasters