One Week After Japan's Contaminated Water Release... Noryangjin Fish Market's Card Sales Increased by 48%

Government: "No Decline in Seafood Consumption After Discharge"

After the discharge of contaminated water from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan, card sales at the Noryangjin Fish Market in Seoul reportedly increased by about 48% compared to the previous week.

On the 4th, an analysis by a major domestic credit card company of its customers' card usage from the 24th to the 30th of last month, when the contaminated water discharge began, showed that the amount spent by this card company's customers at Noryangjin Fish Market was 48.6% higher than the previous week (17th?23rd). During the same period, the number of users increased by 34.5%, and the number of transactions rose by 39.7% compared to the previous week.

On the first weekend after the Japanese government discharged contaminated water from the nuclear power plant, a seafood market in downtown Seoul was relatively crowded with visitors during the weekend lunch on the 27th of last month.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Additionally, the card company analyzed sales in seafood-related subcategories such as sashimi restaurants, sushi specialty stores, and Japanese cuisine restaurants nationwide, and found that sales from the 24th to the 30th of last month also increased by 1.2% compared to the previous week.

Although there were initial concerns about a decline in seafood consumption due to the contaminated water discharge, consumption actually increased significantly after the discharge. Some view this phenomenon as a temporary surge in demand from consumers who wanted to eat or purchase seafood before the effects of the contaminated water became fully apparent.

The government also stated that there has been no visible decline in seafood consumption domestically since the start of the marine discharge of contaminated water on the 24th of last month. At a daily briefing on contaminated water held at the Government Seoul Office, Park Seong-hoon, Vice Minister of Oceans and Fisheries, said, "The seafood sales at three major large supermarkets during the six days from August 24 to 29, immediately after the discharge, were at 103% of the sales during the seven days from August 17 to 23, just before the discharge."

Vice Minister Park added, "Seafood sales at the three major large supermarkets on August 24 and 25 increased by 68.1% compared to the same period last year, and by 46.7% compared to August 22 and 23, before the discharge."