Prime Minister Naoto Kan on Wednesday decided not to appeal a Dec. 6 Fukuoka High Court ruling that called for opening two floodgates, north and south, of the dike in Isahaya Bay.
The mouth of the bay opens into Ariake Sea off western Kyushu. To reclaim 670 hectares of land for agricultural use, the 7-kilometer-long dike was closed in 1997. The project, started in 1989 and completed in 2007, cost ¥253.3 billion.
Local fishermen from Nagasaki, Saga, Fukuoka and Kumamoto prefectures filed a lawsuit, alleging that construction of the dike inside Isahaya Bay had resulted in a steep decline in the catch of prized bivalves and had lowered the quality of laver near the mouth of Isahaya Bay.