Wholesalers at Tokyo’s Toyosu market have seen sales tumble due to import restrictions imposed by China in response to the release of treated and diluted water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

China suspended all imports of Japanese seafood following the start of the discharge operation in August. Hong Kong and Macao have since banned imports of marine products from 10 prefectures, including Fukushima and Tokyo.

One wholesaler at Toyosu exports premium fish to more than 20 countries and regions. In the past, about half of its shipments went to Hong Kong and some went to mainland China.

Now the firm says its monthly sales have fallen by hundreds of thousands of dollars due to the import suspension, among other reasons.

The firm had hoped to rely on exporting seafood excluded from the ban to Hong Kong and elsewhere.

But it says customs inspections now takes longer than in the past.

That makes it impossible for the firm to have fresh fish caught in the morning shipped to customers by evening for higher profit margins.

The firm is now considering exploring markets in the Middle East and elsewhere, as well as strengthening its sales in Japan.

But the path to recovery is uncertain, as it is not easy to find new business partners and domestic demand for expensive fish is limited.

The president of Yamaharu says his company is at a loss.

He says he hopes Japanese politicians would do a better job persuading China and Hong Kong to rethink their policies.