Japanese restaurant owners in Hong Kong brace for Fukushima seafood ban

Intage Holdings

22/08/2023 03:13

HONG KONG, Aug 22 (Reuters) - Japanese restaurant owners
in Hong Kong are grappling with a looming ban on seafood imports
from 10 Japanese prefectures because of Tokyo's plan to release
treated water from the crippled Fukushima plant into the sea
from Aug. 24.
    Japan gave the date on Tuesday for discharging the
wastewater after first announcing the move in July. Approved by
the U.N. nuclear watchdog, Japan's plan has faced opposition at
home and abroad over concerns of food safety. The country says
releases will be safe and meet global standards.  
     Hong Kong is Japan's second largest market, after mainland
China, for agricultural and fisheries exports. Japanese
restaurants are popular in the special administrative region and
Japan is a favourite holiday destination for many residents.
    Although the details of Hong Kong's ban remains unclear,
Halry Yu, 42, owner of Japanese restaurant Hassun, said more
than 90% of seafood sent to Hong Kong is gathered in Tokyo. 
    “If they ban imports that come via Tokyo, I think all sushi
restaurants in Hong Kong will be in trouble. There are some
seafood supplies from Osaka, but variety is limited.”
    Yu expects a loss of up to 40% for his restaurant from the
ban and said he would try to salvage business by adding more
meat to the menu.
    "Meat will become the main theme of the menu. We will start
putting barbecued skewers and fried food on our menu that we
never had before, to keep the operation running," Yu said. 
   Hong Kong said the ban would apply to imported aquatic
products from Tokyo, Fukushima, Chiba, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Gunma,
Miyagi, Niigata, Nagano and Saitama. 
     It includes live, frozen, refrigerated, dried aquatic
products, including sea salt and seaweed.
    Many Hong Kong customers dining in Japanese restaurants did
not know about the ban.
     Advertising executive Hilda Lee, 30, said she enjoys eating
Japanese seafood, and dines at Japanese restaurants two to three
times each month.
    "I am a bit worried. But I will choose to still eat it. The
Hong Kong government should have very strict control over the
imports of seafood," Lee said. "They will conduct a lot of
testing and ban those deemed problematic."    
     Japan has asked Hong Kong officials not to tighten
restrictions on food imports. In 2022, Japan exported 75.5
billion yen ($536 million) of fishery products to Hong Kong,
according to government statistics. 
     Jim Smith, professor of environmental science at the
University of Portsmouth, said controlled waste release from
nuclear sites is common around the world and there had not been
any significant impacts on people or the environment.
    "The science has been misunderstood and there's been a very
effective lobbying campaign against this release by anti-nuclear
groups and also in some countries ... there's been political
backlash," Smith said.
        Some customers remained cautious. Dino Leung, 30, a
lifeguard who was eating at a Japanese restaurant in Hong Kong's
Wan Chai district, said he would eat other cuisines instead.
    "I'm afraid," Leung said. "I will try to consume less, but
Japanese food is really good."    
   

 (Reporting by Edmond Ng and Joyce Zhou; writing by Farah
Master; editing by Gerry Doyle)
 ((farah.master@thomsonreuters.com; +852 3462 7709;))