日本捕鱼业正遭受信任危机

Yoshiaki Saito is usually just a quite merchant selling his fish for 40 years at this Tokyo shop. Now he can't stop yelling about Tepco.

"If we put poison in the river, we’ll be all arrested," he says, "but Tepco won't be treated like that. It's unfair." He's furious at Tepco, the owner of the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, as far as Japan's lawmakers.

"Stupid government!" He says, "Both the government and Tepco should act more responsibly."

He and nearly every merchant at Japan's famed Tsukiji Fish Market feels it--the rage from the financial pinch. Nuclear crisis is scaring customers and tourists--both domestic and international--away from all fish in Japan.

It doesn't even matter that all of the sea food has been checked and cleared for radiation. It's all perfectly safe to eat. These merchants say they still see a drop of business of 80 percent.

Japan's fishermen are on the offensive, bringing cameras with them to confront Tepco executives, handing over a scathing open letter. They call the release of radioactive water into the ocean an "unforgivable action". They said they held "strong rage against this irresponsible behavior" and that Tepco will destroy the nation's fishing industry.

"I apologize from the bottom of my heart," say Tepco executives. Tepco says "It is making progress, plugging the leak of highly radioactive water into the sea." Japan's government says other releases of less radioactive water were unavoidable in an emergency situation. Tepco says it's doing everything possible to limit the damage to the industry.

But Sushi Ichiban says the damage is already done. Just look for yourself. Its normally bustling restaurant is completely empty. "Practically, no foreigners are coming." says Tadasuke Sekiguchi. People around the world are worried about how Japan can handle this nuclear situation. But it's also a concern for the Japanese.

"I'm worried about radiation, even if the government and Tepco say it's OK." says this father. Distrust hammering one of Japan's critical industries currently drowning in wave after wave of bad news.

on the offensive

be on the offensive to be attacking sb/sth rather than waiting for them to attack you