PANAJI
The State government has moved in to monitor the indiscriminate use of antibiotics in aquaculture and has constituted Collector-headed district level committees and a task force to ensure thorough surveillance across the State.
Conducting raids, sampling, analysing samples from aquaculture farms and taking action beside holding awareness for aquaculture entrepreneurs against the use of antibiotics, especially the banned ones, are some of the tasks identified for the committees and the task force.
Director of Fisheries, Dr Shamila Monteiro, issued the notification constituting the district level panels and the task force.
In addition to the Collectors who will be the chairpersons of the DLCs, the Deputy Director Fisheries has been named the member-secretary and will be responsible for convening the meetings besides filing the reports related to the raids, sampling and the results of the sample analysis.
Also on the DLCs are the scientific officer of the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA), Deputy Collector (Revenue), an officer to be deputed by the Police department, a representative of the Central government agency Marine Products Export Development Agency (MPEDA) and an aquaculture farmer.
The Task Force, on the other hand will be headed by the Superintendent of Fisheries and will have on it a Senior Food Safety Officer and a drug inspector from the State FDA, representatives of the revenue and police departments, MPEDA official and two aquaculture farmers, one from each district.
Excessive use of antibiotics in aquaculture, the scientific community has concluded, results in the serious health problems in aquaculture, other animals, and humans as well.
Antibiotics, particularly non-biodegradable antibiotics, persisting in aquatic ecosystems results in antibiotic-resistant bacteria increasing resistance in fish pathogens, transfer of these resistance determinants to bacteria and then land animals and finally human pathogens.
Governments across the globe are therefore intervening to ensure more judicious use of prophylactic antibiotics in aquaculture.
Monteiro said in the notification that the Task Force is empowered to seize banned veterinary grade products in aqua product shops and impose fines of Rs 25,000 as a first offence. The fine could be doubled, besides suspension of licence for repeat offences, he added.
The Task Force, Dr Monteiro said, is also authorized to conduct frequent raids and random checks on all shops, manufacturing units, companies and suppliers of drugs, pro-biotics, chemicals, feeds, feed supplements, farms and hatcheries to verify and take action against unauthorized possession of banned products.
It can also establish Quality Control Laboratories to conduct screening tests for antibiotic residues in tissues of aqua products, Dr Monteiro said.
