Goa bans fish from coastal Karnataka

Udupi: Daily, 15 to 20 trucks carrying six to seven tonnes of fish in each of them go towards Goa from the coastal district. But, since the past one week, fish business has taken a bad hit as Goa has banned the import of fish from other states including Karnataka thanks to the issue of Formalin laced fish.

The Goan government has made it mandatory for all out of state fish to be certified as Formalin free by the food department. Additionally, the trucks transporting the fish must make sure that there is no water seeping out on to the road. Hence, in order to implement these rules, the fish merchants had asked for sufficient time. However, the government of Goa has suddenly stopped the entry of outstation fish and is holding all the trucks near Majali check post.

The sudden ban by the Goan government banning the entry of fish into Karnataka has adversely impacted the already struggling fish industry of coastal Karnataka. The fish price has gone down considerably due to excess supply of fish in the market.

Speaking on the situation, Satish Kunder, president of Malpe Fishermen Association said, “We have checked the fish at Malpe for the use of Formalin. In the beginning, we did receive fish laced with Formalin that was supplied from Tamil Nadu. However, due to continuous monitoring, the Formalin lacing is completely stopped. Due to the sudden and unexpected decision of the government of Goa, coastal fishermen have incurred losses to the tune of crores of rupees. The fishermen, who had a tough time during the rainy season due to storm and ban on fishing, and have now, have received one more severe jolt due to the banning of outstation fish by the Goa government.”