Miyagi fisheries coop to halt oyster shipments due to detection of norovirus

ISHINOMAKI, Miyagi -- The Miyagi Prefectural Fisheries Cooperative Association announced on Dec. 20 that it will stop the shipment of oysters for raw consumption until Dec. 25 -- after detecting the norovirus in the seafood in 10 of the prefecture's eleven coastal water areas.

According to the fishing coop, this is the first time since tests and data collection began in 1996 that a shipment of oysters has been suspended across the prefecture due to the norovirus. However, oysters caught in Miyagi Prefecture that are currently in distribution are not affected, with the organization stating that, "Oysters that have already been shipped are safe to eat."

Each week, the association conducts norovirus tests on oysters that inhabit the 11 coastal water areas off the coast of Miyagi Prefecture. Following tests on Dec. 19, a positive reaction to the test was observed in oysters from 10 of the prefecture's coastal waters, with Ogatsu Bay in the city of Ishinomaki being the exception.

Shipments of cooking oysters will also be stopped until Dec. 25, excluding Dec. 21.

The cooperative association is looking into the possibility that the infected oysters may have picked up the norovirus after the virus flowed from human bodies into the sea.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Miyagi Prefecture caught the second highest volume of oysters in Japan in 2014 -- approximately 20,000 tons' worth of the seafood -- just one place behind Hiroshima Prefecture, which shipped approximately 117,000 tons.