Image via Wikimedia
Let's say you were to conduct an entirely informal poll to a crowd of people, wherein the question featured was "At which location would you rather fish: Off the coast of Fukushima, home of the most famous melted-down nuclear reactor core of the last 25 years, or literally anywhere else on the planet?" My hunch is that you would get plenty of respondents selecting the latter.
And yet, the until-very-recently radiation-rich coastal zone is apparently getting ready for business.
Beyond the major 2011 disaster, you may recall that over 80,000 gallons of "highly radioactive" water was released in another recent leak, leaving many concerned about the plant's containment security. South Korea reacted by extending its ban on buying fish from the region.
Meanwhile, new reports showed that radiation levels in Fukushima were 18 times higher than previously thought, according to the BBC.
But according to Japan's Kyodo News, "Fishing operations off the coast of Fukushima Prefecture are set to resume Wednesday, a local fisheries body said Tuesday, about a month after leaks of contaminated water into sea at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant forced trial operations to be put on hold."
Apparently, the prefecture has tested the fish in the region, and have deemed them safe for human consumption.
"Through tests we know the radioactive levels of the fish are not an issue and that they are safe," the advisory body said. According to Kyodo, "Out of 100 fish and seafood products tested, 95 were clear of radioactive substances and the remaining five contained less than one-tenth of the government's limit of 100 becquerels for food products, it added."
There you have it, folks—according to the Japanese government, even as a plume of radiation worms its way across the Pacific, it's safe to fish in Fukushima again.