Health wings of local bodies and Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) officials have said that vigil is up against possible arrival of poor quality or even stale fish into the Kerala market even as the 52-day ban on trawling has resulted in fish scarcity and price spiral in local markets.
The seizure of fish unfit for human consumption in Thrissur last week has triggered fears that unscrupulous elements will take advantage of the fish demand in the State while there is a visible shortage of landing of local favourite varieties due to the trawling ban.
The Health authorities in local government bodies said that they were keeping vigil against any attempt to sell stale fish. Sources in the Maradu market said there was constant watch on the highways to identify possible fish consignments with a view to checking the quality of arrivals.
An official of the FSSAI said ‘Operation Matsya’, specially dedicated to checking the quality of fish arriving into the State from other States, was on. Frequent checks are conducted, samples are collected and tested.
A fish dealer in Champakara market said fish arrivals from other States had dwindled of late. “It is true that there is a shortage of locally caught fish due to the trawling ban and bad weather conditions preventing inland fisheries operations. Small size mackerels, oil sardines and threadfin breams are caught in different locations in the State itself and surplus quantities make their way to Kochi.”
