Japan will allocate 20.7 billion yen ($141.4 million) as an additional relief package for the fishery industry amid China's blanket seafood import ban following the release of treated radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Monday.
The support measures will include steps to increase domestic consumption, ensure the sustainable production of seafood, mitigate reputational damage, and secure the development of strategies for finding new overseas markets, as well as make sure there is sufficient provision of swift and thorough compensation.
The Kishida administration will provide a total of 100.7 billion yen to the fishery industry as it has already set up two separate funds, one amounting to 30 billion yen and the other 50 billion yen, to assist fishermen in maintaining their businesses.
The government has pledged to assist the industry in diversifying its seafood export channels so that it is not dependent on generating sales in "specific countries," and therefore overly reliant on China, while also calling on Beijing to engage in discussions based on scientific evidence about the environmental impact of the water discharge.
Kishida told reporters at his office on Monday that he will "protect the fishing industry," adding his government and Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc., the operator of the Fukushima plant, will "firmly" fulfill their respective responsibilities.
The relief package, which will be financed by reserve funds, was formally approved after Kishida on Thursday instructed relevant ministers to compile it. China is the largest market for the Japanese fishery sector.
On Aug. 24, Japan began the treated water release from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean despite opposition from local fisheries and China. The plant was wrecked following a devastating earthquake and tsunami in March 2011.
Tokyo and Beijing have been at loggerheads over the safety of the water discharge, further straining their already unstable bilateral relationship. China has urged Japan to stop releasing what it calls "nuclear-contaminated water" into the sea.
Japan has claimed the water is safe given that most radionuclides except tritium have been removed through a purification process. China, however, has levied a blanket import ban on Japanese fishery products since the discharge began.
In 2022, Japan's exports of agricultural and fishery products, as well as processed food to China, totaled 278.2 billion yen, with exports to Hong Kong at 208.6 billion yen, government data showed. Fishery items amounted to 87.1 billion yen and 75.5 billion yen, respectively.
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