Office Enterprise 2007 Fishermen affected by nucle

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TOKYO —

Fishermen whose marine products have been affected by the release of radioactive particles from the tsunami-ravaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant should receive provisional compensation, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said Wednesday.

Edano told a information conference that ‘‘it is natural’’ for marine products affected by the nuclear crisis to be part of the upcoming compensation program in the same manner as agricultural products.

His remarks came a day after the plant’s operator Tokyo Electric Power Co unveiled a plan to pay provisional compensation, probably by the end of this month, to residents and farmers living near the crippled nuclear complex.

The utility has said it will make tentative estimates of the amounts to be paid out in consultation with the government, while there are no signs that the nuclear crisis, triggered by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, will end anytime soon.

Anxiety is growing about seawater contamination and the safety of seafood, especially after the power company dumped water containing relatively low levels of radioactive materials into the sea this week.

Edano apologized that the government should have informed the public and Japan’s neighboring countries in a more efficient manner in advance of the utility dumping Monday a massive amount of radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean.

The National Federation of Fisheries Cooperatives Associations issued a statement, lodging a strong protest with the utility and the government. It said that fishermen are ‘‘immeasurably angry’’ at the ‘‘irresponsible’’ conduct of releasing toxic water into the sea without any prior consultation with them.

The head of the federation,Office Enterprise 2007, Ikuhiro Hattori, held talks with the utility’s chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata on Wednesday, urging the company to compensate the losses incurred by fishermen due to the crisis.

Also, countries such as South Korea have said they are dissatisfied with Japan’s way of disclosing information regarding its efforts to contain the crisis at the nuclear plant.

The utility made an announcement of the release at the last minute on Monday, saying it has to be conducted to make space for the storage of more highly radioactive water that has been hindering efforts to bring the plant’s overheating reactors under control.

© 2011 Kyodo Information. All rights reserved. No reproduction or republication without written permission.