Formalin-laced fishes might have come from other states, defends Jayakumar

Addressing media persons here on Friday, after meeting the fishermen, the Minister said that recently there were allegations that formalin was being used in fishes in the state and this took a severe toll on the livelihood of the fishermen.

In an effort to verify the charge, a team of officials from Fisheries Department, Government Fisheries University and Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) held a meeting with fishermen and also inspected the collection points in the fish markets and in shops in Chennai and

other places.

However, formalin was not found in any of the fish samples taken from different markets and the allegations tuned out to be baseless.

Informing that the storage capacity in all the boats had been increased in recent years, the Minister said that fishermen used only ice bars while storing the fishes in their boats in case if it would take more than 15 days for them to return to the coast. The fishermen had informed him that they do not use any chemical, including formalin, to preserve the fishes, as there was no need for them to preserve the catch.

Pointing to the demand in the state, the fishermen had told Jayakumar that since their entire catch was getting sold the same day, there was no necessity for them to preserve the fishes.

When confronted with reports of some samples collected from fish markets in Chennai had formalin, he rejected it and defended that those fishes might have been from other states like Andhra Pradesh and Odisha, where the middlemen might have used chemicals to preserve it.

When asked about the steps taken to clarify the doubts of public about the formalin-laced fishes, Jayakumar replied that samples would be collected from shops and collection points and subjected to tests on the spot in the presence of the public.