Japan’s Seafood Exports Drop by 30% Amid Fukushima Water Discharge

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Japan's seafood exports dropped by one third in August, against the backdrop of the launch of the Fukushima water discharge, according to data provided by the Japanese Statistics Bureau.

Japan’s seafood exports fell by 30% in August compared to July, and by a quarter year-on-year to 31,100 tonnes, the Statistics Bureau said. Their export value also dove by 27% in August and 25% year-on-year to $118,1 million.

The fall occurred after 15 countries, including Kazakhstan, Portugal, Chile, Sri Lanka and Mexico, stopped importing Japanese seafood in August. The countries are reported to have imported seafood worth $828,000 in July.

Another 24 states decreased their imports significantly. The Canary islands, for instance, reduced their imports 11 times, Saudi Arabia – nine times, while Denmark and Italy started to import five times less Japanese seafood. Russia also decreased its imports by 16%.

At the same time, Panama, Porto Rico and the Dominican Republic started imports from Japan in August, while a number of countries, including India, New Zealand, Israel and some others, started to import more.

On August 24, Japan began dumping treated waste water from the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant into the Pacific Ocean after diluting it with seawater. Tokyo said that the water had been cleaned of all radionuclides except tritium, which was still within acceptable limits. The International Atomic Energy Agency said that the treated wastewater would have a negligible radiological impact on people and the environment. On October 5, Tokyo launched the second round of the water release, which is to last 17 days.