Fishing for answers

Abstract

The triple disaster of the March 11, 2011, earthquake, tsunami, and subsequent radiation releases at Fukushima Dai-ichi were, and continue to be, unprecedented events for the ocean and for society. More than 80% of the radioactivity from Fukushima was either blown offshore or directly discharged in to the ocean from waters used to cool the nuclear power plants (1). Although offshore waters are safe with respect to international standards for radionuclides in the ocean (2), the nuclear power plants continue to leak radioactive contaminants into the ocean (3), and many near-shore fisheries remain closed.