Any concerns of radiation from the Fukushima explosion in 2011 affecting the Alaskan seafood has been ruled out by the US Food and Drug Administration.
The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation and the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services confirmed reports from the FDA. Alaska’s State Veterinarian Robert Gerlach says the concern in the public was that the radiation would pass via water and through the fish.
“I think there was concern for both things because we do know there were some migratory fish that feed off in the western part of the Pacific and then migrate over toward the fisheries on the west coast of the US. That was one of the reasons the FDA focused on the tuna. And that’s why people figured the fish they knew were feeding over there, they probably would have been eating other fish that probably were exposed. And they did find very low levels in those tuna.”
Gerlach says radiation spreads faster in the air than in water. After the Fukushima explosion, the Environmental Protection Agency monitored the air, rain and dust.
Although Alaskan seafood is still subject to local toxin, there is little radiation in the fish from the explosion. The only radiation found in the sample did not pose a health risk.