DINAKARAN NEWS

Fisheries department to discourage use of antibiotics

VIJAYAWADA: To decrease the usage of antibiotics in cultivation of fish, the fisheries department in partnership with the state food safety department is planning to organise programmes to create awareness among the cultivators on its ill effects. 

In a meeting at the fisheries department here on Friday, the commissioner of the department Rama Sankar Naik said the growing popularity of antibiotics in the cultivation of fish is dangerous and that it needs to be curbed immediately. 

It is common knowledge that farmers in the state add antibiotics in the system of fishes, through various means like injecting, etc. It is believed that these antibiotics help in speedy breeding and artificial growth. As the trend is dangerous, the department officials are planning intervention programmes to reduce the usage of chemicals. 

"Farmers are using excessive antibiotics in fisheries. This is mainly due to lack of awareness amongst the cultivators. The need of the hour is to create awareness at a local level," said Rama Sankar Naik. 

The fisheries commissioner added that fish, prawns and other sea foods are exported, and that there is an urgent need to keep a check on the usage of antibiotics. "After cultivation, they are preserved. Some farmers use preservatives to do the same. And once done, they are exported to other places including foreign countries where they are rejected due to excessive use of medicines. Therefore, we should tell the farmers the ill effects of using chemicals," Naik explained. 

Naik sought coordination from the food safety department officials to create awareness amongst the farmers of the state. "As it is a primary food, the food inspectors are relevant persons to explain disadvantages to the farmers. They could suggest on what could be used and what could not be used," he observed. 

The commissioner proposed that each district must be assigned one food inspector for interacting with farmers. "One food inspector can speak to the farmers from one particular district and make them understand how administering excessive antibiotics could have negative effects. It could affect not just trade, but also public health. This will create a massive difference at the local-level," he said.

The department would soon come up with an action plan in coordination with the food safety department and start the awareness process. Zonal inspectors from the food safety department and officials from the fisheries department participated in the meeting. They discussed on ways to take the initiative forward and also on the deadline for formulating the plan.