Radiation in Fish

                  Until recently, the massive earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan on April 11^th really didn’t affect Americans very much. Yes, we’ve all seen the Red Cross commercials begging for relief aid and hundreds of pictures and videos circulating around the internet showing the widespread damage that these natural disasters have caused, but our daily life really hasn’t been affected. This could however, change in the future. Seafood exports produce nearly 2.5 billion dollars a year in profit for the Japanese people, with many of those exports destined for the U.S. Last Thursday, a net of squirming eels was pulled up from the seafloor, only one prefecture over from the radiation-sticken Fukushima prefecture – home of the “rogue” reactors. This discovery of radiation in seafood has gotten the attention of food safety regulators both in Japan and in the Untied States, leading to more strict guidelines for imported and exported seafood. Radiation-plagued fish are being thrown out one after another; fish that would otherwise be ready for exportation. The economic effects of this unusable seafood will surely hurt the Japanese economy, but will also raise the price of fish in the United States. Since the supply of clean fish will be drastically reduced, one can expect a hefty increase in price since the demand will be the same. However, wouldn’t Americans rather pay more for certifiably radioactive-free seafood?  I know I would.