Fukushima seafood business groups question nuke water discharge plan

TOKYO — Local seafood businesses in Fukushima said on Tuesday the Japanese government has not yet provided a sufficient explanation for the planned release of radioactive wastewater from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the Pacific Ocean.

About 30 people, including owners of fish stores, restaurants and other seafood-related businesses, in Fukushima's Iwaki city invited government officials to a study session at the city's central wholesale fish market on Tuesday, in a bid to seek a full explanation about the release plan, public broadcaster NHK reported.

A government official said the effects of the release will be minimal for humans and the environment, while a participant said fish stores will face questions from consumers about the safety of seafood.

Another participant said the government and plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO, should think deeply about why people are skeptical about the safety of marine products caught in waters near the plant.

Koji Suzuki, president of a fisheries company who organized the session, said people in seafood-related businesses have not been given an explanation on the planned release. Though he is opposed to the plan, he needs additional information that he can share with his customers.

Kalinga Seneviratne, a consultant with the journalism program at the University of the South Pacific, said Japan should respect the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty, inked by Pacific Islands Forum members in 1985.

He said the contamination will do significant transboundary harm to the territories of the Pacific, including the treaty zone.

Rising worry

Meanwhile, South Korea's imports of Japanese seafood plummeted for the second consecutive month on rising worry about Japan's planned release of radioactive wastewater into the Pacific Ocean this summer.

The import of Japanese seafood, including live, refrigerated and frozen fish as well as shellfish, dropped 30.6 percent over the year to 2,129 metric tons in May, after sinking 26 percent in April, Yonhap News Agency reported on Monday citing data from the Korea Customs Service.

The recent drop in imports of Japanese fish and shellfish seemed to be relevant to growing concerns about Japanese fishery products ahead of the planned discharge of the Fukushima-contaminated water this summer, Yonhap said.

NHK reported that TEPCO began a trial for the equipment discharging nuclear-contaminated water into the Pacific on June 12. The test run of the discharge facility is expected to last around two weeks.

In May 2010, about a year before the massive earthquake and tsunami crippled the Fukushima power plant, South Korea's imports of Japanese fishery products reached 7,475 tons, more than triple the import volume in the same month of this year.

South Korea banned all seafood imports from eight Japanese prefectures near Fukushima following the disaster.

Xinhua