Two British Columbia First Nations are taking a wait-and-see approach as West Coast salmon are tested to determine if they have been contaminated with radiation resulting from Japan’s Fukushima nuclear disaster six months ago, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) reports.
The CFIA announced in June that testing will take place in August and continue through September, during the salmon run. Sockeye, coho, chum and pink are being tested, as well as albacore tuna. Six months ago, when the earthquake and tsunami damaged Japan’s nuclear reactors, the salmon were still out at sea. Now they are swimming back to spawn, making it an ideal time to test them.
The fish are taken from processing stations at various points across the B.C. fishery, CFIA spokesperson Mark Clarke said. Fish from the West Coast likely won’t be affected by the Fukushima disaster, but testing is prudent nonetheless. “We expect that these test results will be well below Health Canada’s actionable levels for radiation,” Clarke said.
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