Exports of Japanese seafood have been canceled by foreign buyers on concern that the products may have been contaminated by radiation leaking from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, a government official said.
At least 10 orders have been withdrawn since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami damaged the power station, Hiromi Isa, trade office director at the Fisheries Agency, said in a Tuesday interview in Tokyo. The cancellations were made even as the government assured the food's safety, Isa said.
Sushi restaurants and hotels, including Shangri-La Asia's luxury chain, dropped Japanese seafood from their menus because of radiation fears. Global fishing companies, including Hong Kong's Pacific Andes International Holdings Ltd., could benefit from increased demand to replace Japanese produce. Radioactive iodine in seawater near the plant rose Tuesday to 3,355 times the regulation level set by the government, Japan's nuclear safety agency said Wednesday.