ABSTRACT
This paper aims to unravel the complex web of connections and constraints between the local and global levels by addressing the problem of the cultivation of sea squirts in Pacific Tōhoku after the disaster of 11 March 2011 (3.11). After a brief overview of Sanriku’s regional fisheries, the production of sea squirts and their respective market are discussed in the context of 3.11. Sea squirts represent a niche product in aquaculture, whose production is limited to a few, mostly very peripheral coastal communities around the Oshika peninsula. Even before the catastrophe, the sea squirt industry was heavily dependent on exports, especially to South Korea, which imposed an import ban on fishery products from the prefectures affected by the catastrophe, as radiation exposure was feared more than two years after 3.11. Since the collapse of this important market, the industry has been heavily dependent on compensation payments from the operators of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. A look at the micro level also shows that many coastal cities are becoming increasingly globalized in many respects (e.g. labor migration), demonstrating the hybridity of these communities in the sense of a “global countryside.”
