
This is a virtual field trip I’ve pulled together for the Marine Pollution class at SAMS to understand the effects of the 2011 earthquake, tsunami …
Fukushima fisheries: virtual field trip
After the 2011 Fukushima earthquake there was much made of the possible “permanent” nuclear pollution to the oceans around it, and further afield. Many of the readers of the Olympic Peninsula Environmental News had concerns about what happened after the earthquake and the affects of nuclear radiation on fish in the area. Here’s an update I found recently. Worth a look regardless of whether it changes your point of view on the disaster. I offer it only as a data point among many. First hand from the field by a noted scientist, Dr. Leslie Mabon.
Another big challenge for consumers and fisheries post-disaster has been trust. Who can one trust for reliable information on the safety of Fukushima fish? To assess the safety of fish caught in Fukushima waters – but primarily to promote cooking and eating Fukushima produce – the local NGO Umi Labo (meaning: Sea Lab) regularly catches fish from the sea off the coast of the Fukushima Dai’ichi nuclear power plant. With support from the Aquamarine Fukushima aquarium, they then independently check the content of the fish they catch. Anyone can join their cruises, which use the Cho-Ei Maru vessel (see Destination 7 above), and their monitoring data goes online for verification:
Dr. Leslie Mabon
Filed under: Olympic Peninsula | Tagged: fukushima, Pollution | 2 Comments »