Japanese Seafood On The Menu For US Soldiers

LOL, the US government have agreed to buy Japanese seafood for their military to help mitigate the economic fallout from Japan’s decision to release radioactive wastewater from its destroyed Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the Pacific Ocean. 

 

The American armed forces will sign a long-term contract with Japanese seafood suppliers to help counter China’s ban on imports from Japan, US ambassador to Tokyo Rahm Emmanuel told Reuters in an interview on Monday. 

 

Japanese fish, scallops and other products will be served on US Navy ships and stocked in commissaries and mess halls at 17 American military bases in the region, he added. But he conceded that feeding Japanese seafood to US soldiers would not completely offset Japan’s loss of the massive Chinese market. 

 

China, formerly the largest importer of Japanese fish, banned all seafood imports from Japan in August, citing concern over possible radioactive contamination. Beijing had slammed the Japanese government’s decision to start dumping Fukushima wastewater into the Pacific Ocean, calling the move “extremely selfish and irresponsible”. Russia followed suit earlier this month, suspending imports of Japanese seafood. 

 

The Japanese government have repeatedly defended its wastewater discharges as safe, and the International Atomic Energy Agency backed the plan. China’s Foreign Ministry responded to the IAEA’s claims by suggesting that those who think the releases are safe should “drink or swim in” Fukushima wastewater themselves.

 

Reuters reported that last year, Japan exported more than 100,000 tons of scallops to China. The first purchase under the US scheme is a fraction of that – just under a metric ton of the shellfish. 

 

Emanuel had told the Reuters news agency it is the start of a long-term contract that will extend over time to all types of seafood.