According to the country’s statistical office, fishery production reached 3,155,000 tons last year, down 0.9 percent from a year earlier.
The 2013 fishery output was worth 7,227.3 billion won (US$6.7 billion), down 6 percent, or 461.8 billion won, from 7,689.1 billion won tallied in 2012.
Officials attributed the decrease in part to the decreased consumption of fishery products caused by worries over radioactive water leak at the Fukushima nuclear plant in northeastern Japan.
A 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsumani in March 2011 led to the catastrophic meltdown of a nuclear reactor at the Fukushima plant. Fukushima was the world’s second most disastrous incident after Chernobyl which occurred in 1986.
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com