(Yicai) Aug. 24 -- Chinese companies are getting ready to mitigate the impact of Japan beginning to release treated radioactive water from the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean, starting today.

So far there is no direct effect, Chinese firms in aquatic products and water treatment said in separate statements, adding that they will continue paying close attention to the situation while planning tailored services.

Kaiyuan Securities predicted earlier that marine products in the Pacific Ocean will probably be polluted by the event so freshwater produce will become more popular. Discharging the wastewater, caused by the Fukushima accident in 2011, was approved by the Japanese government two years ago.

GeoMar Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research, a German research institution, estimated that the water will spread to seas worldwide within a decade and marine products are expected to be gradually polluted so people are likely to shift to seafood grown elsewhere.

Guolian Aquatic Products said the Guangdong province-based seller of seafood has crafted schemes to cope with the possible impacts. Guolian mainly purchases white prawns from South Asia and the Middle East, reducing its procurement from the world’s largest ocean with a coastline shared by China, the United States, and Australia.

Guolian added that its ready-made dishes of bullfrogs, fish, and crawfish are all freshwater products, and the raw materials are now mainly imported from Saudi Arabia.

Baiyang Investment Group, another seafood vendor, said its products are mainly made from homegrown ingredients. Raw materials that come from afar are Mauritanian so the Japanese water discharge has a limited impact on the firm's operations.

Salt Industry Group announced that the Jiangxi province-headquartered maker of edible salts obtains its products thousands of meters underground, far away from the source of pollution, at self-operated mines.

CEC Environmental Protection said that the Chinese provider of ecological services is keeping an eye on Japan's project progress and is likely to get involved in the relevant business after evaluating demand and technical feasibility. The firm already has a large domestic market share in treating wastewater from nuclear power plants, owning hundreds of patents.

Moreover, Xiamen-based Jiarong Technology said the manufacturer of membrane separation equipment is capable of offering services to treat nuclear waste.

Editor: Emmi Laine