Prime Minister Kishida Fumio has indicated that the government will present an outline of support measures for the fisheries industry, which has been affected by China's suspension of Japanese seafood imports.

Kishida announced this during a visit to a fish market in Iwaki City in Fukushima Prefecture on Saturday, one year after the release of treated and diluted water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant began.

He said the government needs to take all possible measures to mitigate the impact of the import ban that China introduced in response to the water discharge, and that ministers concerned will hold a meeting next week to present the outline.

He added that the government will take full responsibility for the discharges, which could take decades to finish.

Calling the ban a response without scientific basis, Kishida said the government again urged China to immediately scrap the measure. He said the government will continue its efforts at all levels.

The head of the Fukushima Prefectural Federation of Fisheries Co-operative Associations, Nozaki Tetsu, warned that a single failure could ruin all the efforts.

He called for extra attention to the safety management of the discharges.

Meanwhile, Tokyo Electric Power Company was due to start a test to retrieve nuclear fuel debris from one of its crippled reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, but the work was postponed after an installation error was found in the retrieval device.

Kishida said the government takes the situation seriously, and that it will urge the utility to take responsible measures.

The nuclear power plant suffered a triple meltdown during the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. Water used to cool molten fuel at the plant has been mixing with rain and groundwater. The accumulated water is being treated to remove most radioactive substances, but still contains tritium.
Before releasing the treated water into the ocean, the plant's operator dilutes it to reduce tritium levels to about one-seventh of the World Health Organization's guidance level for drinking water.