Hong Kong restaurants are looking for new seafood supplies as authorities plan to ban imports of aquatic products from 10 Japanese prefectures if the country releases treated water from the Fukushima nuclear disaster site.
The owner of Michelin-starred Omakase Godenya, Shinya Goshima, said the affected ingredients account for about 10% of the restaurant’s imports. He’s seeking substitutes for Murasaki Uni imported from Miyagi Prefecture in Aomori Prefecture or Hokkaido.
The move comes as Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings (Tepco) is preparing to release more than 1 million cubic meters of treated radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean, as its storage tanks are expected to reach capacity as early as 2024. While the International Atomic Energy Agency has found the release meets global safety standards, it risks stoking already heightened political tensions in the region.