Salmon fishing restarts in Naraha, 1st time in 5 years since nuclear disaster

Salmon fishing in the Kido River in Naraha, Fukushima Prefecture, resumed on Oct. 18 for the first time in five years since being halted by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima Daiichi plant. From the upper stream, 15 members of the Kidogawa Fisheries Cooperative used a net to drive salmon toward another net further downstream. The fishermen hauled in about 120 of the fish, averaging 4 kilograms and 60 centimeters long each. Among them, an exceptionally big one weighed 6 kg and measured 80 cm in length. The catch was checked for radioactive substances at a food-processing facility near the river and the radioactive cesium levels of all fish were below the detectable limit. Fishing using weirs and seines along the Kido River is in full swing from late October through early November. The fishing season will last till the end of November. (Translated by Kyodo News)