Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (NR)
Mangalore, Jan 22: A five-day international workshop on toxicity in shell-fish and its mitigation entitled 'Safety of Shellfish from Harmful Algae and Bio toxins' was held with fisheries experts from different countries gathering at the College of Fisheries here on Monday Jan 21, to debate on ways and means to reduce the risk to marine life from harmful algae and bio toxins.
Fisheries experts from China, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Morocco, Japan, Denmark, Ireland and Sweden are participating in this workshop organized by the Fisheries college here. The experts at the workshop have zeroed in on harmful algae which could be the possible reason for many disasters where scores of people have died or have been hospitalised after consuming shell-fish in different parts of the State and Kerala over the years. Experts have stressed on the need for monitoring the conditions in order to ensure production of shellfish which are safe for human consumption.
After inaugurating the workshop S Honnappagol, director of Bidar-based Karnataka Veterinary, Animal and Fisheries Sciences University (KVAFSU) in the course of his speech declared "Shellfish is an important source of cheap protein and constitutes an important component of the diet of the coastal population of India. It is particularly helpful to the rural poor.... as shellfish is an important source of livelihood for the coast." he added.
Reeling out statistics on the said matter, I. Karunasagar, fishery industry officer (quality control) of Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO-UNO) informed that Mollusc and shell fish export and domestic market accounted for 14.37 million metric tonnes in the country. It also accounted for 24 per cent of the total international fishery trade.
K.M. Kaveriappa, vice-chancellor of Bangalore University opined that algal bloom occurred because of polluted waters causing a large variety of fish and whales being badly affected by this harmful algae. Villagers hit on simple strategies to combat this algal menace when it bloomed in their wells. They would dig up parallel wells close by to get filtered water, he informed.
Elucidating further on the matter, he said there is a need to evolve techniques to monitor algal blooms and prevent their harmful effects. At the same time he also cautioned that one should not lose sight of the fact that most of the algae were helpful.
SIDA representative Ann-Sofi Rehnstam Holm, Fisheries College dean Y Basavaraju, workshop coordinator Indrani Karunasagar among others were present on the occasion.