Seafood became safe after the Fukushima dump, but some people refuse to eat it

Seafood is having a bad week in East Asia, which is bad news for a region that makes up a major part of the diet.

Experts say Japan’s discharge of treated radioactive wastewater from the destroyed Fukushima nuclear power plant, which began on Thursday, does not and will not pose health risks to people who eat seafood. But although the scientific evidence confirms this, not everyone is convinced of this.

On Thursday, the Chinese government expanded its ban on seafood imports to cover all of Japan, rather than just some regions. The release of sewage has been highly politicized and sparked deep concern about seafood in both China and South Korea, leaving some to wonder if sushi, sashimi and other products are still safe.

At the Noryangin Fish Market in Seoul on Friday, fish selling associations put up signs urging consumers not to succumb to paranoia.

“Our seafood is safe!” read one. “Let’s consume with confidence!”

“Don’t worry about baseless myths and exaggerations!” said another.

Yoo Jae-bong, 52, who was trying to sell fresh halibut, squid and sea bream at the market, the largest in the city, said there had been a rush of customers the day before the water was released.

He said, “Then calm down.” “There is a lot of fear in the air.”

The sewage released into the Pacific Ocean on Thursday is the first batch of more than 1 million tons slated to be discharged over the next 30 years. The Japanese government and the electric utility that operates the plant has promised that the water is safe for humans.

International experts agree. The UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency said seafood contamination outside the plant’s immediate vicinity would be “Much less any public health concernsIndependent scholars I say too that Japan’s decision made technical sense; that similar releases have occurred all over the world without incident; and that the additional radiation would be minuscule compared to what is already in the ocean.

But since Japan announced the degassing plan two years ago, the issue has remained controversial at home and abroad — especially in South Korea, a former Japanese colony where anti-Japanese sentiment tends to run high.

During these two years, Japanese authorities and the international scientific community have failed to effectively communicate scientific information about the spill and explain why the risks to public health are so low, said Nigel Marks, a professor of physics and astronomy at Curtin University in Australia. As a result, he added, misinformation has filled the void and undermined public confidence in Japan’s plans.

“Nature abhors a vacuum,” Mr. Marks said by phone on Friday.

“I’m sure they would like to restart it again and do it better,” he said, referring to the authorities.

Hirokazu Matsuno, a Japanese government spokesman, told reporters this week that the government had “meticulously tried to explain” the issue to the international community “on scientific grounds and with a high degree of transparency.”

Before Thursday’s initial release of sewage, several Chinese sushi brands announced that their ingredients were not from Japan or promised to get rid of anything that was. The Chinese government has raised anger in recent weeks over Japan’s plan to release treated water, and tensions between the two countries escalated after the signing last week of a tripartite security agreement between Japan, South Korea and the United States.

In Seoul, it was common to see protesters carrying signs showing dead fish and the radiation symbol.

This week, regional concern about fish and seafood, and arguments about why they are perfectly safe to eat, has grown.

One sign of concern emerged on Thursday when Seoul police arrested 16 college students who tried to break into the building housing the Japanese embassy. Before they were taken in for questioning, the students held up banners and chanted slogans protesting the water drainage in Fukushima.

In another sign of concern, there was plenty of fresh fish for sale Nuryangin Fish Market On Friday — mackerel, octopus and sea bass, all swimming in the tanks — but the vast lobby was so empty that a reporter could easily count the shoppers. Most of the fishmongers at the market, where seafood comes mainly from Korean waters, were looking at their phones or staring into space.

In Hong Kong, a Chinese region where the local government has banned the entry of seafood Some, not all In Japanese prefectures, the topic of seafood safety has been very popular on social media this week.

Evan Kwai, manager of Kyouichi, a sushi and sashimi restaurant in Hong Kong’s Quarry Bay district, said on Friday that bookings have recently fallen by half.

“People have lost confidence,” said Kwai, 60, tapping his finger on his reservation book. He added that he plans to replace his supply of Japanese products with Norwegian salmon, Canadian sea urchin and other imports.

As of Friday, it was not clear what impact the anti-seafood sentiment would have on Japan’s exports in the long run. But the early data is not encouraging. Chinese state-run media said this week that imports of seafood products from Japan in July fell 29 percent from the same month a year earlier, a drop that Japanese news reports linked to seafood from Japan being checked for traces of radiation. .

If the negative sentiment persists, it is likely to have a significant impact on the Japanese economy. Official data show that the country’s seafood exports last year amounted to 387 billion yen, or about $2.6 billion. Sales to China and Hong Kong accounted for more than 40 percent of the total.

This helps explain why on Wednesday Japan’s Economy Minister, Yasutoshi Nishimura, made his decision. Eat sashimi in Tokyo News cameras also rolled. “It really is the best!” he He said.

There is no doubt that everyone in East Asia is troubled by the Fukushima sewage spill.

At a branch of Umemashidon, a Japanese restaurant chain in Hong Kong famous for its sashimi rice dish, a line formed during Friday lunchtime.

“I’m not worried” about pollution, said Edward Young, 30, as he stood in line with his family. “I want to eat as much as I can before the price goes up.”

Chow Chow And Choi Sang Hoon Contributed to reports.

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