Is the seafood business of Chinese fishermen okay?, Seafood after Japan releases nuclear wastewater. Reporter | Live | China
On August 24th, Japan initiated the discharge of contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the sea. On that day, the General Administration of Customs suspended the import of Japanese aquatic products, and the State Administration for Market Regulation issued a statement, attaching great importance to food safety and price supervision. The seafood business of fishermen along the coast of Jiangsu and Zhejiang in China has also been affected.
Seafood live streaming room surrounded by onlookers
At midnight on August 24th, the livestreamer Shang from Lianyungang, Jiangsu, was still selling seafood live. "You can rest assured to eat, our seafood is all safe, and the production date is before today." Shang Shang was so anxious that he almost cried and kept repeating the same few words. She used red watercolor pens to write keywords such as "sell out and switch careers", "no radiation", and "domestic products" on white cardboard, and then pasted them on her body, displaying them in the most prominent position in the live broadcast room.
At noon that day, Japan initiated the discharge of contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the sea. Many people are concerned that seafood may be contaminated by nuclear weapons, even if it comes from the waters of our country. Enbei is also selling seafood on e-commerce platforms. When he saw the news, he was first angry and then felt helpless, unable to stop it. As soon as I opened my phone, there were all relevant messages, "When will it affect China's waters? Some say it will take 57 days, while others say it will take 240 days, but people's awareness of seafood prevention will immediately arise."
The anchor is still live streaming.
The seafood live broadcast room was immediately brought to the forefront of the spotlight. The comments in the Shangshang comment section are constantly being updated, "These days may not be a big problem, I really dare not eat in a week." "Who knows if there is radiation, I can't eat it for free, I can't eat it for free." "Let's switch careers early, seafood sellers are about to lose their jobs." Similar cold words keep popping up, and she can't figure it out. Such a scene left Shang at a loss for a moment. She trembled in her voice, tears in her eyes, suppressed her crying, and hurriedly displayed her products.
There are many people watching the excitement. On the evening of Shang Shang's live broadcast, hundreds of thousands of people flooded into the room, and at most, nearly 30000 people were online simultaneously. Her live streaming account has just over 500000 followers, and on weekdays, there are usually less than 1000 people watching her live streaming. According to Enbei's observation, there are many live streaming rooms with a surge in traffic, "which will flood with a large wave of internet slang, making irrational comments with rhythm, saying that seafood is toxic and cannot be eaten." However, there are more friendly voices. Many netizens expressed their support in the comment section, and some even went to the account backend to leave messages encouraging, "Chinese fishermen are not wrong, anchor cheers!"
The subsequent impact is still unknown
What is the impact of Japan's nuclear contaminated water discharge into the sea on China? Can local seafood be eaten? The reporter contacted several experts and scholars from Ocean University and received unanimous responses: relevant experiments have not been conducted yet, making it difficult to make scientific evaluations, and conclusions cannot be drawn at present.
However, in the eyes of many consumers, it has almost become an established fact that China's seafood products will also be contaminated.
Someone wants to seize the last chance and quickly stock up. On the 24th, Shangshang's live broadcast room sales surged to the 16th place on the overall sales list. Many people are watching live broadcasts, buying seafood such as shrimp and hairtail in boxes and freezing them, with a shelf life of up to 2 years. Shang Shang released all the stocks as much as possible, most of which were stocked for the Mid-Autumn Festival, and sold them a month in advance. The reporter observed that among the top 20 live streaming platforms on the overall sales list that night, seafood live streaming rooms occupied 3 seats. The average order value of seafood products is not high, and the audience is also small. Such sales results have rarely appeared before.
Some seafood products have also been neglected. The seafood anchor's live broadcast room in Zhoushan, Zhejiang is much quieter in their thirties. He mainly sells Zhoushan swimming crabs. "Swimming crabs still need to be eaten fresh and live, different from fish and shrimp, and cannot be prepared in advance." This year's Zhoushan swimming crabs started fishing in early August, and the current quantity is not large. Recently, there have been many tourists visiting Zhoushan to eat crabs, and the price is relatively high, but it is also normal. The yield of fishermen going out to sea for fishing is relatively stable. There is not much change in prices in the offline market, but there are clearly fewer people watching live broadcasts online and fewer people placing orders. Some people go to the live broadcast room to see if the crabs can still be eaten, so they leave. Sales are declining, and over time, the price of swimming crabs may decline.
In early August of this year, a large number of fishing boats crossed the Zhujiajian Bridge in Putuo District, Zhoushan City, Zhejiang Province, heading to the East China Sea for fishing. Shen Jizhong
"For us, Japan's discharge of nuclear wastewater is like a 'blow to the head'," said Sanzo. He is a native of Zhoushan, and many of his family and friends are engaged in the seafood industry. Most of his ancestors went fishing at sea, and those without boats went to factories and warehouses for packaging and sorting. The young people returned to their hometowns to start businesses and started live streaming sales on e-commerce platforms. The family's livelihood is almost entirely based on this. "For generations, we have been living by the sea, and I don't know if we can be reliable this time."
"When I think about these fishermen in our village, it feels uncomfortable." Shang Shang said, "We are young and knowledgeable, and we can still switch careers. In the future, we will continue to sell clothes and cosmetics, and they will rely on a fishing boat to support our family for a lifetime. What can we do next?" Shang Shang is a post-90s person who grew up in a fishing village. His father is a fisherman who has been fishing for 40 years, and his family has two fishing boats. Her live broadcast room was set up by the seaside, and occasionally the sound of a whistle could be heard, indicating that the fishing boat had returned to port.
Many practitioners have thought of changing careers, but no one can make up their minds. They have decided to focus on the present, while keeping a glimmer of hope and expectation for the future. For them, seafood is their career, and the ocean is their home, both of which are difficult to part with.
