Thing to note here is that the ocean currents to Hakodate come from the West Coast of Japan, and Fukushima is on the Eastern coast. Not saying it’s not likely the two are linked, but it seems there could be other things at play. Like toxic leaks somewhere else in south east Asia.
Did no-one actually read the article? This happening in Hakodate in Hokkaido, not anywhere near Fukushima.<p>"Experts have speculated that the migratory fish in both areas had become stranded after being chased to the point of exhaustion by amberjack and other predatory fish. Mass mortality events can also occur when there are sudden drops in the water temperature, causing the fish to go into shock, they added."<p>"Images of the fish have been widely shared on social media – many accompanied by Fukushima conspiracy theories."<p>"“There have been no abnormalities found in the results of water-monitoring surveys,” the fisheries agency said, referring to the water that has been pumped out of the Fukushima plant so far. “We’re concerned about the proliferation of information that’s not based on scientific evidence.”"<p>I'm shocked that <i>Hacker News</i> of all places would immediately leap to conspiracy theories.
Could also be a bacterial bloom that extracted all oxygen from the water and the fish all died due to this. I've seen this before though I can't seem to find evidence for this.
> Town officials in Hakodate urged local people not to consume the stranded fish amid reports that some were gathering quantities to sell or eat.<p>A sign of the times compared to Japan’s days of excess peaking in the 80s. If you talk to older Japanese people, those who were in their 20s-30s during the 80s, it’s pretty common to hear about them visiting or even living in LA and NYC. Nowadays, only a third of Japanese people even have passports and Japan ranks lower in English literacy then developing countries like Vietnam.