Imports of Japanese seafood products fell by more than 30 percent last month from a year earlier amid concerns over Japan’s plan to release contaminated water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant into the ocean this summer.

According to trade statistics compiled by the Korea Customs Service on Monday, inbound shipments of fish and shellfish from Japan came to two-thousand-129 tons in May, down by 30-point-six percent from the same month last year.

After growing in the first three months of this year, such imports have dropped for two consecutive months since April, when it fell by 26 percent.

The decrease is attributed to growing public safety concerns amid progress in Japan’s plan to discharge the treated Fukushima water, including the commencement of a test run of the facilities to be used in the release last Monday.

The South Korean government is working to quell concerns, with vice fisheries minister Song Sang-keun saying last Friday that the government will maintain its ban on fisheries imports from the eight Japanese prefectures around the power plant until the safety of the products is confirmed.