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Bandai Asahi NP, Miyagi
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Local research found that Shizugawa Bay octopuses often eat abalone. That may help explain why people prize the bay’s octopus for its flavor and satisfying bite.
After the 2011 tsunami, Tokura’s oyster growers cut their rafts to one-third of the previous number. With more room, oysters that once took 3 years to grow could be ready in 1; in 2016, Tokura became Japan’s first ASC-certified oyster farm.
Each winter, black brant geese travel from Arctic tundra to Shizugawa Bay. Hundreds find food in its eelgrass and seaweed beds, then rest in the sheltered coves; the species is designated a Japanese Natural Monument.
Cold-water kelp and warm-water arame grow side by side under the influence of the Oyashio, Kuroshio and Tsugaru currents. Surveys have recorded more than 220 kinds of seaweed and seagrass in the bay.
Japan’s first successful coho salmon aquaculture took place in Shizugawa Bay in the 1970s. Its sheltered, deep ria waters and nutrient-rich influence from the Oyashio helped make the bay a natural nursery.
Traditional octopus fishing here could involve 300–400 clay pots tied along a rope. Fishers set the line in the fishing grounds, left it for 2–3 days, then hauled the pots back.
In 2018, Shizugawa Bay became Japan’s first Ramsar wetland designated for its seaweed beds. Its 5,793-hectare site is in Sanriku Fukko National Park—not Bandai-Asahi National Park.
After Shizugawa Bay joined the Ramsar list, local children who wanted to learn more helped spark a new club. The Minamisanriku Junior Nature Research Team formed in May 2019 to explore the area’s nature and culture.
The 2011 tsunami reached the roof of Minamisanriku’s nature center, carrying away almost all its bay research records, specimens and equipment. The town rebuilt the center in 2020, and research on Shizugawa Bay continues.
Before aquaculture, rough weather could stop fishing and make income uncertain. Nori cultivation began in the Meiji era; local accounts say the shift to farming helped make livelihoods more stable around the bay.
