nuclear-news

Lingering radiation around Mount Akagiyama in northern Maebashi =2 year ban on fish

“Hato Bus Co., which used to organize tours to the lake every year, plans no such visits this autumn because of the ban on taking the smelt home. Furthermore, elementary and junior high schools have canceled student trips.”

October 29, 2012

Asahi Shimun 

By SEIKO SADAKUNI/ Staff Writer

Akagi Onuma, a caldera lake atop Mount Akagiyama in northern Maebashi, usually attracts 25,000 tourists to fish for freshwater smelt during a seven-month season starting in September.

But visitor numbers to the area in Gunma Prefecture have fallen by 90 percent compared with levels prior to the March 2011 disaster at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. This autumn, about 100 boats lie idle along the shore. On autumnal weekends in the past, all boats would have been rented out.

“Revenue has almost dried up since the earthquake,” said Takeshi Aoki, 48, a manager at Aoki Ryokan, a lakeside inn.

[…]

Samples taken ahead of this year’s season found that one fish contained 210 becquerels per kilogram, higher than a newly lowered limit of 100 becquerels, the level which the government set in April for food excluding water, milk and baby food.

When products contain too much radioactive cesium, producers are either ordered to halt shipments or asked to suspend them voluntarily.

In this case, the prefectural government decided to allow tourists to fish for smelt as long as they do not keep the fish, fearing that an outright ban lasting two years would have a serious impact on the local tourism industry.

But tourists have not returned.

]…]

Hato Bus Co., which used to organize tours to the lake every year, plans no such visits this autumn because of the ban on taking the smelt home. Furthermore, elementary and junior high schools have canceled student trips.

The town of Nakagawa, Tochigi Prefecture, promotes locally harvested boar meat, a popular delicacy in autumn and winter, a time when the animal puts on plenty of fat.

[…]

Between April and early October, the town inspected the meat of 100 or so carcasses, and found only three with radiation levels higher than the standard. Meat confirmed safe has been shipped.

[…]

Meanwhile, in locations such as Fukushima Prefecture, a large number of fish, vegetables and other autumn and winter delicacies remain subject to shipment bans due to high radiation levels.

http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201210290085

October 29, 2012 - Posted by arclight2011 | Uncategorized