azmastablasta
New member
Never could force myself to try sushi. Where I grew up we called that stuff bait.
May 29, 2012, 1:01 PM JST
Swimming to a Sushi Shop Near You: Radioactive Tuna?
After the nuclear accident at Fukushima Daiichi last year spewed radioactive cesium into the sea, concerned consumers in the U.S. soon raised the specter of irradiated tuna from Japan swimming over to West Coast waters — a scenario pooh-poohed by many scientists and U.S. fisheries.
Well, it’s happened. Marine ecologists from Stanford University on Monday published a paper saying they found elevated levels of radioactive cesium in Pacific bluefin tuna caught off the waters of Southern California.
The findings are the latest reminder of how little we know about the way radiation spreads in the environment, particularly the sea.
Complicating matters are the many different kinds of tuna and their different migration patterns, most of which aren’t well known.
Soon after the accident, scientists were pointing out that it’s hard to say where the tuna on your sashimi plate has come from. Even if fish do pass through contaminated waters off the coast of Fukushima, it’s unlikely they would stick around long enough for much radioactive cesium to build up in their bodies, they said.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration notes in a bulletin that radioactive iodine, which has a short half-life, would be gone by the time migratory fish arrive in U.S. waters, and that radioactive cesium hasn’t been detected in any tuna imported from Japan.
Many fisheries have been even more dismissive about the chances of contamination.
The Oregon Albacore Commission said Albacore tuna caught by the U.S. troll and pole fleet were expected to be “completely unaffected” since the tuna are migratory warm water fish.
“Ten years of tagging data show that these fish do not come anywhere close to the cold waters of Japan at this time of year and it is believed that these albacore tuna stocks are currently many hundreds if not thousands of miles away from Japan at this time,” the commission said on its website after the accident.
The commission also said that “diminishing radioactivity will likely dilute to undetectable levels along the Japanese coast,” so contaminated water likely wouldn’t get to where the tuna were swimming.
To be sure, the commission may be absolutely right, and the albacore that make their way to Oregon may travel very different routes to the contaminated bluefins caught off the shores of Southern California.
It also should be noted that the amounts of radioactive cesium found in the bluefins were only 3% higher than normal, and probably safe to eat, according to the Stanford scientists.(Yes but do you want to bet if they eat it? These are the same guys who believe in man-made global warming.)
So sushi lovers may still be able to enjoy their maguro for now. Until, that is, Fukushima Daiichi teaches us our next lesson about how much we don’t know.
http://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2012/05/29/swimming-to-a-sushi-shop-near-you-radioactive-tuna/
May 29, 2012, 1:01 PM JST
Swimming to a Sushi Shop Near You: Radioactive Tuna?
After the nuclear accident at Fukushima Daiichi last year spewed radioactive cesium into the sea, concerned consumers in the U.S. soon raised the specter of irradiated tuna from Japan swimming over to West Coast waters — a scenario pooh-poohed by many scientists and U.S. fisheries.
Well, it’s happened. Marine ecologists from Stanford University on Monday published a paper saying they found elevated levels of radioactive cesium in Pacific bluefin tuna caught off the waters of Southern California.
The findings are the latest reminder of how little we know about the way radiation spreads in the environment, particularly the sea.
Complicating matters are the many different kinds of tuna and their different migration patterns, most of which aren’t well known.
Soon after the accident, scientists were pointing out that it’s hard to say where the tuna on your sashimi plate has come from. Even if fish do pass through contaminated waters off the coast of Fukushima, it’s unlikely they would stick around long enough for much radioactive cesium to build up in their bodies, they said.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration notes in a bulletin that radioactive iodine, which has a short half-life, would be gone by the time migratory fish arrive in U.S. waters, and that radioactive cesium hasn’t been detected in any tuna imported from Japan.
Many fisheries have been even more dismissive about the chances of contamination.
The Oregon Albacore Commission said Albacore tuna caught by the U.S. troll and pole fleet were expected to be “completely unaffected” since the tuna are migratory warm water fish.
“Ten years of tagging data show that these fish do not come anywhere close to the cold waters of Japan at this time of year and it is believed that these albacore tuna stocks are currently many hundreds if not thousands of miles away from Japan at this time,” the commission said on its website after the accident.
The commission also said that “diminishing radioactivity will likely dilute to undetectable levels along the Japanese coast,” so contaminated water likely wouldn’t get to where the tuna were swimming.
To be sure, the commission may be absolutely right, and the albacore that make their way to Oregon may travel very different routes to the contaminated bluefins caught off the shores of Southern California.
It also should be noted that the amounts of radioactive cesium found in the bluefins were only 3% higher than normal, and probably safe to eat, according to the Stanford scientists.(Yes but do you want to bet if they eat it? These are the same guys who believe in man-made global warming.)
So sushi lovers may still be able to enjoy their maguro for now. Until, that is, Fukushima Daiichi teaches us our next lesson about how much we don’t know.
http://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2012/05/29/swimming-to-a-sushi-shop-near-you-radioactive-tuna/
