Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako attend annual marine convention

Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako attended the 43rd national marine convention held in the city of Oita on Sunday morning.
While showing concern over the impact of climate change and marine plastic waste on fishing operations, Emperor Naruhito said in a speech, “I hope you will bring together your wisdom again and redouble efforts to expand activities for creating an abundant sea while leveraging this year’s convention, held in the place where the first event took place.”
It is the second time for the annual event to be held Oita Prefecture.
The inaugural event was in the town of Tsurumi, now part of the city of Saiki, in the prefecture.
Later on Sunday, Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako moved to the city of Beppu in the prefecture and released young marbled flounder and red sea bream into the sea from the port of Beppu while a fleet of local fishing boats welcomed the couple at the port.
The emperor and the empress watched and waved to a monitor that showed a different event venue set up in Saiki.
Emperor Emeritus Akihito and Empress Emerita Michiko had attended the annual convention almost every year since the 1981 inaugural event in the prefecture.
The current emperor and empress took over the role after the abdication of the former emperor in 2019.