The first radiation safety standards for fish are being set in Japan. It comes after radioactive contamination in seawater near the damaged Fukushima Daiichi power plant measured several million times the legal limit.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said on Tuesday the government would apply the maximum allowable radiation limit for vegetables to fish.

The move to introduce safety standards for fish came after the Japanese health ministry reported that fish caught off the coast of Ibaraki Prefecture contained levels of radioactive iodine that exceeded the new legal limit.

The prefecture is approximately half-way between the damaged plant and Tokyo. TEPCO said even those large amounts would have no immediate impact on the environment, but added that it was working to stop the leak as soon as possible.