PANAJI
The Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) under the health ministry has its task cut out this year with the ghost of formalin in fish looming as inter-state fish imports are expected to rise following the upcoming ban on mechanised trawlers operating along the West Coast from June 1.
Fish importers and traders did not want to come on record but have admitted that they do expect a huge increase in the quantum of fish imports to the State concurrent with the ban on fishing by local mechanised trawlers.
The two-month fishing ban period this year is the first time over the last three years that it is business as usual with the Covid-19 pandemic conditions having eased considerably.
For two successive years in 2020 and 2021, the two-month fishing ban between June 1 and July 31 had coincided with the deadly first and second waves of Covid-19 infections which had completely disrupted local fish and other markets across the State.
FDA director Dr Jyoti Sardesai, meanwhile, said mobile fish testing laboratories are in place at all the border check-posts and there will be 24x7 vigilance.
Officials will ensure that there is round-the-clock surveillance at all these check-posts, Sardesai added.
The fishing ban does not apply to operations by local traditional fishing communities including those who use smaller boats which use outboard motors.
However, the quantum of the catch of these fishing communities is insufficient to meet the State's demand and local markets are heavily dependent on supplies from fish importing traders.
Fish is generally imported to the State in these monsoon months from Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.
The formalin-in-fish scare had ignited a huge controversy in Goa back in July 2018 after samples from multiple fish consignments had been found contaminated with the carcinogenic preservative.
The Goa government had then imposed a temporary ban on fish imports but not before it snowballed into a huge political controversy after the FDA official, Iva Fernandes, was abruptly removed following the reports of the team led by her confirming formalin contamination.
