Fish deaths due to natural causes

Ridma DISSANAYAKE

The mass deaths of fish in some coastal areas of the island were found to be due to natural causes. Therefore, there is nothing to fear about the daily consumption of fish as usual,Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development Minister Rajitha Senaratne said yesterday.

According to a report submitted by the National Aquatic Resources Agency (NARA) on the deaths of fish, the lack of oxygen in water, increase of temperature of sea water due to monsoons and decay of plankton they eat, have been caused for the fish deaths,he added.

The minister said the situation has caused a drop in fish prices around the country and the Ceylon Fisheries Corporation (CFC) has been instructed to purchase fish stocks from fishermen specially in the Northern and Eastern Provinces.

CFC chairman Maheel Senaratne said they have already taken measures to purchase fish through CFC fish stalls island wide at fair prices. The CFC is purchasing around 25 metric tons of fish daily under this programme.

“The corporation has purchased 120 metric tons of fish during last week to maintain stable prices in the market, ”he said.

He said they purchased 460 metric tons of fish in September through 122 CFC stalls spending Rs.130 million. The prices of fish sold at CFC stalls are lower than those in other fish stalls,while the number of consumers patronizing these stalls has seen a massive increase in the last two to three months.