Nellore: A committee, consisting of officials from the medical and health, fisheries and drug control departments, will play watchdog against the use of antibiotics in aquaculture.
Its formation comes in the wake of the rejection of seven consignments of shrimp, which India exported to Japan last year, after residues of banned antibiotics were found in them. The joint secretary of fisheries in the ministry of agriculture sent a communication to the chief secretaries of all coastal states on the issue after the Japan government notified it recently. Task force teams are meant to conduct joint raids and take action against those marketing the banned antibiotics, but their powers seem nebulous.
For instance, the fisheries department has no power to initiate action and food inspectors of the medical and health wing have nothing to do with animal/aqua feed except for products that humans eat. The drug control wing can take action if the banned antibiotics are found as raw material. But those who produce them mix it with feed or feed supplement and market them under the guise of probiotics.
Their limitations notwithstanding, the task force officials decided to carry out joint raids and random checks in coastal mandals besides holding awareness camps for farmers on the losses they would suffer if they mixed antibiotics in their animal feed.
Joint director of fisheries K. Sitarama Raju said that they had decided to collect shrimp samples for lab analysis since this was a food item. He added that they would also conduct raids and book cases against those supplying banned antibiotics to shrimp farmers.
