Yet another possible man-made disruption of nature has been reported from Kyushu's Ariake Sea. This major nori (seaweed) cultivation area appears all but dead. Not only has output dropped sharply, the plant has also discolored. The abnormal growth of phytoplankton has created a serious shortage of nutrients for the seaweed, turning its color from deep black to light yellow.

Hardest hit are the nori growers in the four prefectures on the coast -- Fukuoka, Saga, Kumamoto and Nagasaki. According to local fishery associations, output in early January was only 77 percent of what it was a year earlier in Kumamoto, about 70 percent in Saga and Nagasaki, and slightly above 50 percent in Fukuoka. At a recent auction in Kumamoto, the low-quality crop that had attracted no buyers the last time was put on sale again because there was no fresh harvest.

It is not yet clear exactly what has caused such damage to the nori in the Ariake Sea. But while the answer, or answers, must await an official survey, the finger is being pointed at the reclamation project in Isahaya Bay at the mouth of Ariake. Local fishermen warn that Ariake will become a "dead sea" unless the flood-control dikes on the bay are opened to restore the regular ebb and flow of the tide. Some 6,000 fishermen and harvesters riding more than 1,000 boats rallied off the bay late last month, demanding that the floodgates be opened.