A fishy affair

The air was thick with the smell of fish at the Malim fish jetty, occasionally interspersed with the clamour of fish trays unloading and the hollering of fishermen. However, the sparsity of customers struck a jarring note, pronounced by the unattended piles of fish slumped on top of each other. A reminder of the fish markets in Goa allegedly becoming the breeding grounds for a potential health crisis and political mud-slinging.

42-year-old Peter, who has been selling fish for 17 years, gestured around helplessly and said, “Just here, there was no space for people to walk before, but now you can hardly see any.”

After the State was caught in the crossfire of a formalin scare a few months ago, he has lost 50 per cent of his customers. “People are scared now; we need a lot of time to recover the whole business,” he lamented.

Goa just re-imposed the ban on fish from other States, and Krishna, 42, a fish supplier, pointed out that the dearth of fish coming in from other States posed a big problem for them, with “the business shutting”. He felt that the formalin issue was being politicised.

Vox populi

Peter looked visibly frazzled when asked about the cancer talks surrounding formalin. “What causes this cancer? You can’t just simply put everything on the fish. The government should carry out a specific study on whether it is causing cancer.” Shashikala, 50, who has been a fisherwoman ever since she was ten, also felt that the issue was being politicised, and the bans have aggravated matters. She reaffirmed the fear crippling customers from buying, adding that labs need to be set up for people to check for formalin to regain confidence.

Brazzinha, 56, who was at the Margao fish market early in the morning to buy fish, admitted that in the initial days after the controversy, people had stopped eating fish, and that she now makes it a point to rely on local fish brought straight from the waters. However, she bemoaned the price hikes, pointing out how mackerels that cost ₹800 per basket the previous week was now costing her ₹1,200. Leanna, 32, pointed out to the part of the Margao market where trucks from other States used to line up, prior to the ban. She refrains from buying such imported fish, she said. “People are scared, some of them don’t even eat fish any more.”

Goa finds itself in the grips of this formalin scare that has snowballed into a political imbroglio. Caught in the eye of the formalin storm is not just the formalin, but also the ambiguities surrounding what exactly took place during the first raid by the Food and Drug Administration on July 12, at Margao market, and its implications.

In fact, Vishwajit Rane, State health minister, seemed agitated when asked about that day which triggered a slew of controversies, even saying that there is no issue to begin with. “Based on a spot analysis, you can’t destroy stock, take action or prosecution. Prosecution is only after the confirmatory test in the lab. This is not being told by me; these are being told by the experts.” He declared that Vijay Sardesai, Town and Country Planning minister, had asked him to “go all out” and to make sure that food safety standards are maintained.

“If people are not complying with the FDA regulations, they need not bring fish. They should have insulated vehicles, FDA registration with the respective states, FDA transportation license and all the requirements,” he said, adding that they would be given 15 days to comply.

When asked about the impact on business this can trigger, he replied, “I am not getting into that terrain at all. My terrain is food safety, and even if it affects, I am not looking at that at the moment... If the (public) perception is bad, then automatically the sales will fall... People didn’t expect us to take such an aggressive stand, but for us, people and their perception matter.”

As for the “world-class laboratory” that they are planning to set up with the Quality Council of India and the Export Inspection Agency, the date will be finalised post the selection of the location, he said. “I had a meeting with Suresh Prabhu (Minister of Commerce and Industry and Civil Aviation) who has said that the government of India will spend around 10 to 15 crore on this lab and that we will have a world class set up for the whole of Konkan,” he explained. The FDA will be kept as the prosecution agency, with the testing being done by this lab, he stated.

Testing times

A source who did not wish to be named, observed that Sardesai’s alleged aide is the biggest importer of fish from the southern States and this connection could be the reason for the clash, post the spot test of adulterated fish on July 12.

Trajano D’mello, former Goa Forward Party vice-president who had resigned after accusing the BJP-led regime of backing the fish mafia, advocated for a minimum of two to three testing labs in each market for the buyers to check. “If an investigation takes place, then the whole truth will be bared,” he said.

“It is nothing but big money involved... How many people are going to be silenced on this issue?” said D’Mello, with reference to Iva Fernandes, the officer whose claims of detecting formalin during the raids were allegedly sidelined by FDA.

Jyoti Sardesai, director at FDA, did not respond to calls. D’Mello went on to say the health minister was “fully serious”, but that he “didn’t have the freedom.” Rane, upon being told this, replied promptly: “I am not facing any setbacks. I have the full support of Vijay Sardesai.”

Falling business

MM Ibrahim, president of the Goa wholesale fish market association, pointed out that they were now faced with a 30 per cent decrease in fish consumption. He deplored the newly implemented requirement for extensive documentation, explaining that there were 12 export plants in Goa (which have been shut), generating an export revenue of around 800 to 900 crore. Out of this, the fish from Goa only contributed 10 per cent, with the rest being imported from the other states. “The interstate import ban is a loss for India as the revenue from exports decreases,” he said. He advocated for labs to be installed in every market so that the buyers can check for themselves.

BusinessLine spoke to Shekhar Salkar, head of the department of oncology at Manipal Hospital, Goa, about the exact health implications of formalin, which also has been rendered in a state of confusion. He shared documents from the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, which pointed out certain facts. Formaldehyde is not permitted for use in foods as per Food Safety and Standards Regulations 2011, it stated. Formaldehyde in water is formalin, Salkar said. It also said that the WHO has indicated that formaldehyde was not carcinogenic upon ingestion. “The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) of WHO classifies formaldehyde as “carcinogenic to humans” with sufficient evidence for causing nasopharyngeal cancer in humans with occupational exposure, although no carcinogenicity is so far established through ingestion route.”

In another part of it, it said: “Consumption of fish adulterated with formalin can cause health conditions such as abdominal discomfort, vomiting, renal injury etc.”

As the sun rises the next morning and heralds a fresh catch of fish, one can only hope that Goans get to eat their staple food without fear and that the politicians would choose to appease them, instead of their pockets.

Note: Some names have been changed. With inputs from Tina Edwin