Operation Blessing secured 42 boats for fishermen who lost their equipment in the tsunami.

JAPAN – The severed bow of a fiberglass fishing boat jutted out from under a huge pile of mangled ropes and rotting fishing nets. Under mounds of smashed plastic crates and pieces of foam were fragments of countless other boats. These vessels, once afloat and filled with fishermen’s catch, were now in a boat graveyard filled with the wreckage of the local fishing industry. In a separate pile, mangled metal had been separated for recycling.

It has been six months since the Japan tsunami, and now a patina of rust had painted the wreckage orange. Outboard boat motors were piled on top of each other; their bent propellers will never again spin in the ocean that destroyed them.

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The residents of the coastline villages have been working alongside volunteers to sift through the endless piles of debris, slowly sorting things into salvageable piles. The metal smelts will be busy for years to come, yet still much of the debris can only be hauled to huge landfills.

Fishermen and their wives performed a traditional dance that is often used to celebrate a good catch.

The narrow coastal road winds in and out of tiny towns and villages—mile after mile there are still mountains of debris, even six months after the tsunami. After each bend in the road, there is a small cove where fishermen once lived. Now the only evidence of those lives are the concrete slabs where their homes stood.

There is some remnant of fishing equipment strewn in the trees and bushes all along the coast. At sea level, fishing nets are stuck in trees 30 feet in the air, a chilling reminder of the height of the tsunami (in some places it reached a height of 130 feet). Broken boats litter the landscape, some deposited far inland. The tsunami decimated local businesses and industries but none as widespread or damaging as the impact on the fishing industry.

The Japanese diet famously revolves around seafood. With such high demand, the Japanese fishing industry is one of the best established in the world. But across the 300-mile stretch of coastline affected by the tsunami, fishery infrastructure was obliterated. In many small fishing towns the concrete harbor walls were literally swept away and boat ramps smashed into pieces and dragged into the sea. For thousands of fishermen, livelihoods were destroyed in mere minutes, leaving them with nothing.

In the days and weeks following the tsunami, Operation Blessing began working with fishing communities to meet their urgent needs. We provided food, water and even generators for power. As the emergency needs began to wane, we started to dialogue with fishing guilds on how to get fishermen back to work. OBI provided computers, printers and office supplies to a fishing guild on the Urato Islands to enable them to communicate with the mainland and with our Japan team. Thanks to the communication line, we began to compile lists of equipment needed to get fishermen back in business.

The islands are home to conventional fishermen as well as oystermen and seaweed farmers. Since the tsunami Operation Blessing has delivered a variety of equipment to the islands, everything from anchors to fishing nets, ropes to floats. But as vital as those things are, there is one tool at the heart of the profession that is the lifeline to every waterman—their boats.

All 42 boats were given to fishermen with children to provide for. The income generated by these boats will help pay for food, shelter, medical care, schooling and so much more.

With at least 10,000 boats destroyed, Japanese boat builders were quickly flooded with orders and a backlog formed. There has probably never been this much demand for small fishing boats at one time in world history and that means a long wait for thousands of fishermen, assuming that they could afford a boat in the first place. Many lost all of their possessions, including their homes, so the prospect of purchasing a new boat and equipment is daunting and fishing guilds are reporting that many fishermen are simply giving up the trade.

Operation Blessing wanted to help find boats for fishermen but with all the manufacturers tied up, purchasing new boats was not an option. So the OBI team in Japan started to scour the nation in search of used boats. They began to locate and purchase boats as far away as the southern city of Okinawa. Some boats were purchased from individuals and some from dealers who would agree to a great price after hearing about the cause.

After several weeks OB Japan had managed to locate and purchase 42 boats and motors. The team alerted the fishing guild in a community called Oya-Motoyoshi that they were ready to donate boats to local fisherman as soon as possible, especially since the prime fishing season was fast approaching.

The fishermen work together to get their new boats in the water.

On September 4, 2011, the sun was shining despite Typhoon Talas looming to the south. There was a strong breeze, which made 42 crisp, white flags flicker and dance. The flags were on poles in each boat and on each flag were the Japanese characters meaning “Big Catch,” a traditional expression used during the launch of a new fishing boat to wish it success. The boats were arranged in a long line, their bows all pointing out to the sea, ready for action. As the start of the ceremony grew near the fishermen and their families began to arrive for the celebration.

There was lots of hustle and bustle as last minute registration decals were being added to some boats and out-board motors were fuelled up. Journalists and TV crews began to jostle for position and with a series of bows and handshakes the ceremony was underway.

The local mayor remarked about how thankful he was that these fishermen could get back to work so quickly. Then Operation Blessing’s president, Bill Horan, gave a rousing address. Bill spoke of how he, his father and his grandfather were fishermen and how he had lost his boat to a hurricane. The words resonated with the fishermen. They were ecstatic that Bill could relate to them and that an organization from America had come all that way to help them.

One Japanese fisherman readies his boat to help him return to work and enable him to provide for his family.

Each fisherman took to the stage to receive an official certificate of donation from Operation Blessing. One man who could speak English let out a huge, “Thank you” and shouted, “I love you!” much to the amusement of his comrades. But he was sincere and it was clear that all of these men, having lost so much, were extremely grateful for the gift. One fisherman, Mr. Mura Samu, tried his best to hold back tears as he said into the microphone, “You have provided in us a spark of hope that will become a fire.”

At the close of the ceremony there was an unexpected surprise. The stage was quickly transformed with painted wooden cutouts of waves and boats and a large group of fishermen and their wives took to the stage—the men in their fishing overalls and the women wearing bright traditional costumes. A line of men began to pound the stage in unison with long wooden oars. They started to sing a hearty, joyful chant and some men reenacted the pulling in of nets. In the nets were three giant stuffed tuna that they pretended to haul into their boats. In the foreground the women danced and smiled at their husbands having landed such a “Big Catch.” The dance is traditionally done at the end of a great day of fishing to celebrate prosperity; and this was the first time the community had performed the dance since the tsunami.

After great applause, each fisherman took position at his boat and called his friends to help him roll it into the harbor. In a flurry of cheers, waving flags and the putter of starting motors, the boats began to glide into the sea.

The fishermen weaved and dodged each other laughing as they circled the bay. Some of the boats were having friendly races while others slowly cut through water, their captains taking deep breaths, happy to be back on the water. The fishermen chuckled and sped around the harbor a few times before returning to the dock to celebrate with their families. They greeted the OBI team with gratitude.

Fishermen put their boats in the water for the pleasure of a quick cruise before celebrating with their families.

It was a special day for everyone, for the fishermen who had regained their livelihoods, and for the OB Japan team who worked so hard to make it happen and was fortunate to witness the events. This was the first big distribution of boats since the tsunami and for the recipients, hope has been restored.

The need is still huge and the OB Japan team is gearing up to do an even bigger boat distribution in the near future. Operation Blessing is launching an “Adopt a Boat” program where a donor can purchase a boat for a fisherman or join others in purchasing a boat. And in an interesting turn of events, OBI has teamed up with a boat builder in Maine, U.S.A., to design and build boats for Japan. The American boat industry is going through a difficult patch so any work for them is greatly appreciated.

Operation Blessing is connecting the dots between struggling boat builders in the United States and Japanese fishermen unable to purchase boats because the boat builders here can’t meet the demand. Fishermen are getting back to work, finally able to support their families and rebuild their communities. Through donating to Operation Blessing, the ability to help these tsunami survivors reclaim their lives is a “Big Catch” for everyone.

HOW YOU CAN HELP
You can help by making an online donation toward OBI's disaster relief efforts. With your support, we can continue to provide emergency relief and recovery. Please make an on-line donation today.

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