Harmful Myanmar fish flood markets

Fish from Myanmar flood the local markets. PHOTO: STAR

The kitchen markets in the port city are now flooded with smuggled fish from Myanmar.

The fish are highly demanded by consumers, as they are cheaper and a syndicate of smugglers take advantage of the situation, albeit at the expense of health risks, sources said.

According to sources in the business, on an average fish worth Tk 15 lakh are being sold at the Fishery Ghat at the city's Firingee Bazar alone. The bulk of the fishes are imported illegally.

"If traded or imported legally, the government could be benefitted with Tk 8 crore in revenue annually," said a trader at the Fishery Ghat, the largest wholesale market in Chittagong.

The syndicate of smugglers generally bring rui, katla, mrigal and carp fish from Myanmar through the Teknaf border. They inject formalin dehydrate, a poisonous chemical, into the fishes before loading them in trawlers at Myanmar point. The journey from Myanmar to Teknaf usually takes six or seven days. The smugglers push formalin to keep the fishes fresh and free from rot and stink for a longer period, sources said.

The smugglers load the fish into trucks at Teknaf land port to transport them to Chittagong Fishery Ghat, managing all the check points from Teknaf to Chittagong. The syndicate sometime uses the riverine route for the transportation of smuggled fishes.

Sources said the fish like rui, katla and carp are very cheap in Myanmar markets and sold at Tk 25 to Tk 30 per kg, but in Chittagong markets they sell for between Tk 70 and 90. The city hotel and restaurant owners are the major buyers of these fishes.

Retail traders buy fish from Fishery Ghat and sell them at major kitchen markets such as Reazuddin Bazar, Bohaddarhat, Chawk Bazar, Fakirhat, Sholoshahar Bazar, Askerdighi, Kazir Dewri Bazar, Karnaphuli market and Boxirhat Bazar.

Most of the traders are in this sector involved in the illegal business because of excessive duties and taxes on import, sources said. Import of fishes requires no less than 40 per cent duties and taxes, including 15 percent value added tax (Vat), they said.

Meanwhile, the physicians say most of the consumers have in fact no idea about the long-term harmful impact of eating these fish.

"The formalin is basically a poisonous chemical and its presence in fish can lead to different health hazards like vomiting tendency, diarrhoea, headache, stomach problem and high blood pressure," said Dr Matiuar Rahman Khan of Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH).