This book presents the results from the Japanese Fisheries Research Agency's 3-year intensive
monitoring of radionuclides in a variety of fish plankton benthos and their living
environments after the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FNPP) accident in March 2011. The
book reveals the dynamics of contamination processes in marine and freshwater fish mediated by
the contamination of water sediments and food organisms it also clarifies the mechanisms by
which large variations in the level of contamination occurs among individual fish. Most
importantly the book includes a large amount of original measurement data collected in situ
and for the first time assesses diffusion of radiocesium across the Pacific using both in situ
data and a numerical simulation model. Also introduced are several new approaches to evaluate
the impact of the release of radionuclides including the measurement of radiation emission
from an otolith section to identify the main period of contamination in fish. The FNPP accident
represents a rare instance where the environmental radioactivity level was elevated steeply
through atmospheric fallout and direct discharge of radioactive water into the sea over a short
period of time. Replete with precise scientific data this book will serve as an important
resource for research in fields such as fishery science oceanography ecology and
environmentology and also as a solid basis for protecting fisheries from damage resulting from
harmful rumors among the general public.
