Mandeville fish safe, says Tufton

Christopher Serju, Gleaner Writer

Fish sold in the Mandeville Market is safe for human consumption, Agriculture Minister Dr Christopher Tufton declared in an address to fish vendors there on Thursday.

This assurance from the minister comes in the wake of earlier tests that indicated formaldehyde - a chemical used to preserve human bodies before burial - was being used by some vendors there to keep fish fresh.

However, subsequent random sampling of fish collected from Old Harbour Bay Fishing Village, Old Harbour Market, Mandeville Market, Rocky Point Fishing Village and Black River Market tested negative for traces of formaldehyde.

"As far as we are concerned in the Vet Services Division, the fish in Mandeville Market is safe, safe for consumption and we hope your consumers will come back and support you. But I go further by saying to you, 'Make sure you're vigilant to ensure that you are buying from people who are going to abide by the law and ensure that the consumers get the right fish'," he told the vendors.

More damage control needed

However, while they were happy to hear the news, the vendors were adamant that the minister needed to do more to counter the negative publicity which sent sales plummeting after public-health officials declared that fish contaminated with sodium formaldehyde was found in the market.

They questioned the absence of the health ministry officials who had been firm in their allegations that the practice was widescale throughout the market.

"It still naw go help and it still naw go get back di customers because dem mind turn from we. Some a we a coco head and some a wi a dasheen head, but wi a nuh eediat," one vendor bluntly told the minister.

They also questioned the validity of the prior testing, asking the minister about the length of time it had taken and where and how it was done. He told them that the new testing had been done by the Vet Services Division of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, in collaboration with the health ministry.

Previous results stand

Questioned by The Gleaner as to whether the recent results invalidated the earlier tests, chief technical officer in the agriculture ministry, Dr Marc Panton, said no.

"We cannot say that it was wrong. We don't know what were the circumstances around that testing. One set has been determined as positive so it is incumbent on the ministry, therefore, to now go and do resamples.

"... We will set in place a programme that we do regular monitoring so this kind of episode does not happen again."

Tufton told the vendors about some of the policing measures.

"We are going to be doing periodic random testing - maybe once every quarter or even more frequently - to ensure that if there is even a minority of fishers who may be tempted to do what is being said to have been done in terms of applying this chemical to the fish, then we will find out."

The fisheries minister warned that anyone who flouted the regulations would be prosecuted.