China News Service, April 5. According to Japanese media reports, Japan's Minister of Economy and Industry Koichi Hagi Ikuta visited Japan's National Federation of Fisheries Associations (All Fisheries Federation) on the 5th and held talks with Chairman Hiroshi Kishi.
After the talks, Kishi Hiroshi reiterated his opposition to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant's discharge of nuclear waste water into the sea in an interview.
On the same day, Kishi Hiroshi said that he "resolutely opposes the emission of the same," and will make wholehearted efforts to enable Japanese fishery personnel to continue to engage in fishing with confidence.
In April last year, the Japanese government decided to officially discharge nuclear sewage into the sea around the spring of 2023. This is the first time the Japanese Minister of Economics and Trade went to the All Fisheries Federation to explain after the decision.
Hagiuda responded in writing to the request made by the Federation of Fisheries at the time of the decision to discharge.
He said that he would abide by the commitments made by the fishermen and would not discharge into the sea without the understanding of the relevant parties, and said that supporting the sustainable development of the fishery "will create a super large-scale fund".
During the talks, leaders from the Fukushima Fisheries Federation were present, and officials from the Fisheries Federations of Aomori, Miyagi, Ibaraki and Chiba prefectures were present.
After the Japanese government decided to discharge, it has promoted various countermeasures, including accepting a safety assessment by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and preparing a 30 billion yen fund for support in the event of image damage.
In this regard, Japan's All Fisheries Federation has repeatedly stated its position of "resolute opposition" to emissions.
When deciding on the discharge, the Federation of Fisheries requested an answer to five requests, including explanations to the citizens, measures for sustainable management by fishermen, and consideration of continued storage of treated water.
Since the serious nuclear leakage accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in 2011, nuclear sewage has become one of the major problems in the aftermath.
In February of this year, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) investigation team assessed Japan's plan to discharge nuclear sewage into the sea to verify whether it is safe.
Due to the strong opposition from local fishery-related people, the Japanese government hopes to use the IAEA's investigation to allay the concerns of relevant people.