And he was better off than most of the fishermen.
But in most ways the hard lives of the fishermen continued as they had always done.
He was the first of the fishermen out to sea in the morning and the last into the market at night.
One of the fishermen died in Japan seven months later.
Most of the fishermen did not seem to mind there would be no fish on the table that night.
"You don't seem to have the hands of a commercial fisherman."
The voice of a fisherman is heard in the distance.
Local news reports put the number of fishermen missing at more than 3,000.
But for one band of fishermen, this is bad news.
"Sometimes he goes to the bay with his brother," one of the fishermen told the women.