UDUPI: Traders and fishermen at the busy Malpe Fisheries Harbour are a worried lot owing to drastic fall in the prices of fish. The reason, according to many, is Goa stopping trucks laden with fish from Karnataka at the Majali check-post.
A kilo of seer fish (locally known as Anjal) sells now for `300, half of what it sold two weeks ago. Similar is the case with black pomfret which now costs for `250 per kg in the local market. White pomfret, that used to sell for `600- `700 per kg has also come down to `500. The price of fresh ribbon fish caught by purse-seine boat fishermen is `85 per kg.
President of Malpe Fishermen Association Sathish Kunder told TNIE that Food Department officials of Goa are not allowing fish consignments from Karnataka alleging that the fish might be laced with formalin. “The Food Safety Officer of the local health department tested the samples twice in Malpe in July and the results were negative. About 10 days ago, our lorries laden with fish were stopped by the Food Department officials of Goa,” he said.
President of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi Districts Fish Marketing Federation Yashpal Suvarna told TNIE that it was the fish traders lobby of Goa that was playing the game. Fishermen are ready for random certification of their catch in Malpe harbour and the previous tests have already proved that formalin was not used by the fishermen to prolong the shelf life of fish, President of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi Districts Fish Marketing Federation Yashpal Suvarna said. This is a conspiracy by the fish traders of Goa, he rued.