Japan halts shipment of black rockfish caught off Fukushima over radiation

FILE PHOTO: Workers sort fishes after a fishing operation at Matsukawaura fishing port in Soma, Fukushima prefecture, Japan April 12, 2021, in this photo taken by Kyodo. Picture taken April 12, 2021. Kyodo/via REUTERS

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's health ministry said on Tuesday it had ordered the suspension of shipments of black rockfish caught off Fukushima prefecture after radiation exceeding an upper limit was detected in a catch late last month.

The development comes on the heels of an announcement by Taiwan that it would relax a ban on food imports from Japan put in place after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster.

The suspension means the targetted fish would not be shipped, regardless of the destination, a ministry official said.

(Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka; Editing by Andrew Heavens)