Fukushima fish deemed fit for Thai market

[webfact]

Fukushima fish deemed fit for Thai market

By THE NATION

 

(FILE) - Houses are swept up by a tsunami in the Miyagi Prefecture city of Natori, Japan, as a fire rages after an earthquake hit Japan, 11 March 2011 (reissued 07 March 2018).// EPA-EFE PHOTO

 

THE FIRST SHIPMENT of fish imported to Thailand from Japan’s Fukushima prefecture following the March 2011 nuclear disaster has been declared safe for consumption.

 

Fisheries Department’s deputy director-general Umaporn Pimolbutr said yesterday that samples of the fish had passed the Office of Atoms for Peace’s radiation safety test, with readings of Cesium radioactive contamination still much lower than the Public Health Ministry’s limit of no more than 500 Bq (becquerel) per kilogram. 

 

The fish samples – 27.5kg of flounder and 4.5kg of sole – were collected on March 9 for testing, and all of them had an amount of Iodine-131, Cesium-134 and Cesium-137 at 0.39 – 0.77 Bq/kg, which was lower than the equipment’s reading capacity. The exception was one sole fish sample that had a C-137 level at 0.86+0.31 Bq/kg, but that was still lower than the acceptable limit in the ministry’s announcement issued in 2011, she said. 

 

Umaporn also cited the Office of Agricultural Affairs at the Royal Thai Embassy in Tokyo’s report that, since the disaster, Japan has had ordered all prefectures to implement strict radioactive screening tests. The Cesium radioactive contamination limit for general food has been at the much-lower rate of 100 Bq/kg, compared to the internationally accepted codex value of 1,000 Bq/kg. 

 

If any sample were found to exceed 100 Bq/kg, the Japanese prefecture would ban that batch from going into the market immediately. If such limit-exceeding samples were found in various areas at the same time, the Japanese prime minister would ban that product, she said.

 

In the first three months after the disaster, about 50 per cent of fish from Fukushima were beyond the Cesium contamination limit. However, contamination reports had reduced continuously, and the Japanese authorities imposed a standard of 50 Bq/kg in April 2012. She added that the fish imported to Thailand were on the list of confirmed safe food.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30340774

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-03-13

[pokerface1]

Smaller varieties of fish may be below the levels of acceptance. However larger and older fish will have higher levels no doubt. In my mind I would avoid eating the larger fish. 

[Darcula]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

lower than the equipment’s reading capacity

 

Better make sure by using a GT200 for an accurate reading.

[mercman24]

why should that put thais off as they eat fermented fish now and die in their hundreds, even though they have been warned, its just like smoking, carry on and die , dont know why they even decide to announce this,

[trainman34014]

As if anyone can trust a single word from them !      Just don't eat it and live longer.

[kaorop]

Between the lines maybe? Fisheries deparment head has just scored 10 ship loads of fuki fish nice and cheap and now wants to make a killing, literally.

[Araiwah]

Can't see the problem. Two-headed fish should be very popular here. 

[Nielsk]

I wonder !  How in earth would You know where the fish You are eating, has been caught  ??

[eliotness]

I refused to eat fish caught in the Irish Sea because of the radioactive waste that was being pumped out, especially from Sellafied. Likewise I will not (knowingly) eat Japanese fish.

[ostyan]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

Fukushima fish deemed fit for Thai market

yes, too many people eat too much

[ostyan]

I wonder what the correct way is of asking a fish where did it live?

[bushwacker]

Hmm... well I am really surprised that Thailand imports fish.  Thought there was a huge fishing fleet actively casting nets here in the gulf.

Edited March 13, 2018 by metisdead
Bold font removed.

[ostyan]

2 hours ago, bushwacker said:

Hmm... well I am really surprised that Thailand imports fish.  Thought there was a huge fishing fleet actively casting nets here in the gulf.

overfishing maybe ?

[Eligius]

Feed the radioactive fish to Prawit - he would make a suitable and deserving guinea PIG!

 

Edited March 13, 2018 by Eligius

[ratcatcher]

2 hours ago, bushwacker said:

Hmm... well I am really surprised that Thailand imports fish.  Thought there was a huge fishing fleet actively casting nets here in the gulf.

The fish being imported are not native to Thai fishing areas.   The "flounder" or olive flounder/Japanese halibut is native to the northwest Pacific. The sole prefers shallow waters, so not sure which sub-species it would be.

Anyway, neither fish are sold in the average Thai fish market, since they are more likely to be used by specialty restaurants and more well heeled buyers. Thai consumers have an abundance of locally caught fish to choose from.

[worgeordie]

On Top Gear last night,it was about Japanese cars, and they did a drive

through this area,where all the people had left everything,the place was

a ghost town,someone had left a Porsche 911, anyway it said the place

would be uninhabitable for at least the next 40 years.

 

Wonder why Japan would be exporting fish from there ,when I suppose

they could eat it all themselves (if they wanted to),something not right,

of course when the fish is sold in Thailand it will not be labeled from 

Fukushima ,so buyer beware.

 

regards Worgeordie

[ratcatcher]

41 minutes ago, ratcatcher said:

The fish being imported are not native to Thai fishing areas.   The "flounder" or olive flounder/Japanese halibut is native to the northwest Pacific. The sole prefers shallow waters, so not sure which sub-species it would be.

Anyway, neither fish are sold in the average Thai fish market, since they are more likely to be used by specialty restaurants and more well heeled buyers. Thai consumers have an abundance of locally caught fish to choose from.

Some other coverage...........

http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201803010046.html

http://www.asianews.it/news-en/First-Fukushima-fish-shipment-delivered-to-Bangkok-43273.html

[Lupatria]

30 BILLIARDS BECQUEREL

 It is unknown, how much radioactivity in the triple super-GAU came in one fell swoop into the sea. Estimates range from five to 90 Petabecquerels (PBq), most of them from 15 to 30 PBq. A Petabecquerel is one quadrillion Becquerels, a number with 15 zeros. From May 2011 until the end of 2014, according to nuclear power plant operator Tepco, another 33 TBq (terabecquerel) cesium flowed into the sea with the contaminated cooling water - 33 trillion becquerels. For comparison, the EU's largest nuclear power plant, Gravelines in northern France, released in 2008 with its six reactors in routine operation 0.000066 TBq cesium-137. A ratio of 1: 500,000.

Previous studies focused mainly on marine sediment and certain marine animals. How the marine ecosystem and the species as a whole will progress under stress is completely uncertain. Especially since the discharges will last for a long time. The radionuclides can accumulate in fish and other marine life.

 "As a single event, Fukushima has caused the world's largest radioactive pollution to date," says Heinz Smital, nuclear physicist and Greenpeace expert on nuclear power. "Thanks to the immense size of the Pacific Ocean, ocean contamination is not significantly higher." (Source Greenpeace)

[lamyai3]

1 hour ago, ostyan said:

I wonder what the correct way is of asking a fish where did it live?

Hello, what your name where you come fom? 

[sawadee1947]

1 hour ago, Nielsk said:

I wonder !  How in earth would You know where the fish You are eating, has been caught  ??

If you buy e.g deep frozen fish at Makro it's written on the label. So my makerels come from Norway not from Japan 

[Knocker33]

I used to eat a lot of fish here but never touch seafood anymore

[PAIBKK]

When the Thai start glowing in the dark it will ensure the road safety...

They don't need to wear helmets or use lights anymore when riding a bike at night.

Edited March 13, 2018 by PAIBKK

[rickudon]

Bananas are more radioactive than fish - just eat less and you can eat all the Fukushima fish you want!

[YouYouYou]

4 hours ago, Nielsk said:

I wonder !  How in earth would You know where the fish You are eating, has been caught  ??

You go pier ask fisherman where get fish ...he say in water. When wife fish no ask be happy have fish. Many time you fish then you fish come from where you know.

[Jonmarleesco]

9 hours ago, webfact said:

Fisheries Department’s deputy director-general Umaporn Pimolbutr said yesterday that ... readings of Cesium radioactive contamination still much lower than the Public Health Ministry’s limit of no more than 500 Bq (becquerel) per kilogram. 

No doubt, as with PM readings, there's Thailand's safety limit ... and there's everyone else's.

[Jonmarleesco]

3 hours ago, worgeordie said:

On Top Gear last night,it was about Japanese cars, and they did a drive

through this area,where all the people had left everything,the place was

a ghost town,someone had left a Porsche 911, anyway it said the place

would be uninhabitable for at least the next 40 years.

 

Wonder why Japan would be exporting fish from there ,when I suppose

they could eat it all themselves (if they wanted to),something not right,

of course when the fish is sold in Thailand it will not be labeled from 

Fukushima ,so buyer beware.

 

regards Worgeordie

'On Top Gear last night,it was about Japanese cars, and they did a drive through this area,where all the people had left everything,the place was a ghost town,someone had left a Porsche 911, anyway it said the place would be uninhabitable for at least the next 40 years.'

 

The new one, with that Le Blanc moron presenting it? Must be struggling for material, then. The original cast did that years ago, only that time, in Chernobyl.

[unblocktheplanet]

Let's add a little science. We all know that flounder and sole are bottom-dwellers. And we all know that's where the radiation settles, right? 1+1=???

 

Fukushima's meltdown is no more under control today than it was on Day One. Probably never will be. So one more country to check off your food list!

 

There is NO--read it, NO--save dosage of radiation no matter how politicians want to play with the numbers!

Edited March 17, 2018 by unblocktheplanet
typo