Kolkata: Buyers wary of fish from Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh rivers – Times of India

After a drop in supply of sea fish, fear among buyers over riverine fish from two states is likely to hit the business in city markets

KOLKATA: Fish traders as well as customers have become wary of riverine fishes that arrive from Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh after Covid bodies were found floating in rivers in these two states. Scientists, too, don’t dismiss the wariness as unfounded and say immediate steps are required to ensure such incidents don’t recur.
Around 3.5 tonne-4 tonne of fishes from these two states daily arrive in Kolkata on board vendor compartments in trains. Rohu, katla, tyangra, boal and aar are among the varieties of fish that are imported from these states. In addition, fishes arrive in Bengal from Gujarat, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh.
“We get around 2 tonne-2.5 tonne of fishes at the Howrah wholesale market from Allahabad and other places in UP. There are not many sweet water fish caught in Bengal. Most of them that are found here are cultured in ponds,” said Syed Anwar Maqsood, secretary of the Fish Importers’ Association.
Though he hasn’t witnessed a decline in the arrival of fishes from these states, fish retailers have become wary as have a section of customers after watching the news of Covid bodies floating in the river. Take the case of Aniruddha Mukherjee, a retired government officer and a resident of Lake Avenue. Mukherjee household is fond of riverine fishes that arrive in the city from outside Bengal.
“I have been a regular at Lake Market for buying fish. We can’t even think of our daily meal without fish. We enjoy varieties of riverine fishes like katla, boal, aar and chital. However, after watching scenes of bodies float in the river on TV, we have now decided to do without fish for some days till normalcy returns,” Mukherjee said.
Ranjan Kumar Manna, principal scientist at the Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute (Barrackpore), felt the scare among a section of fish buyers can’t be wiped out easily since the scare has gone deep into their minds after watching news on dead bodies floating in the river. Manna expressed hope that the UP government would act on it for the safety of fishes and other aquatic animals.
“Some varieties of fishes like aar, boal and chital nibble into dead animals that are thrown into rivers. They don’t differentiate between an animal carcass and a human corpse. There lies the danger,” the CIFRI principal scientist said.
That the scare looms large is evident from a decline in sales in city’s fish markets. “Sea fish supply has dropped drastically for over a fortnight with trawlers now not sailing out due to the Covid situation. Now, many customers are avoiding fish altogether,” said Ramesh Das, a fish vendor at Gariahat market.
Prabir Mitra, a physician and a resident of Maniktala, isn’t giving up his fish that easily. “I haven’t stopped going to Maniktala market to buy different varieties of fish. We all love fish in the family and can’t do without it,” Mitra said.