Photo/Illutration Ichiro Miyashita, minister of agriculture, forestry and fisheries, urges the public to eat more scallops at a news conference in Tokyo on Sep. 29. (Hironori Kato)

Fisheries minister Ichiro Miyashita is urging his countrymen to eat an additional “five scallops a year” to help offset losses caused by China’s import ban on Japanese seafood products over the release of treated radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear plant.

Miyashita made the plea at a Sept. 29 news conference, saying his aim was to minimize damage to local fishermen by encouraging domestic consumption of scallops from Hokkaido and other areas affected by China’s action.

China slapped an immediate ban on marine imports from nine prefectures after Japan on Aug. 24 began discharging tons of filtered water into the Pacific Ocean from the nuclear complex.

Japan exported 179,000 tons of scallops to China and Hong Kong in 2022, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.

A scallop with shell typically weighs between 200 and 250 grams. Using this weight as a guide, per capita consumption of between five and seven scallops a year would make up for the losses being accrued by China's ban.

Scallop consumption in Japan is around 220,000 tons per year. Eating a few more scallops, per Miyata’s suggestion, would essentially cover those losses.

Miyashita held up a placard during the news conference that read “#Taberuze Nippon! (#Eat Nippon!).”

“I wish everyone would eat one scallop every month for 12 in total throughout the year,” he said. “But since it is a bit too much to eat one scallop each month, I ask the public to eat a scallop dish containing several scallops twice a year.”

In 2022, exports of marine products totaled 387.3 billion yen. China was Japan’s main market with purchases of 87.1 billion yen, of which scallops accounted for 46.7 billion yen. Hong Kong was in second place with purchases of 75.5 billion yen, of which scallops accounted for about 14 billion yen.

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