The Fisheries Department of the West Bengal state in India has announced a ban on using 20 antibiotics and other pharmacologically active substances in shrimp aquaculture, the Millennium Post reported 9 August.
District-level taskforce committees (TFC) have been formed in concerned districts to enforce the ban. The officials will conduct frequent and random checks at shops, manufacturing facilities, and suppliers of drugs, probiotics, and chemical feeds to prevent any illegal trade of the banned products.
“The TFC should ensure that the aqua shops do not sell veterinary grade products and encourage aqua grade drugs registered with CAA (Coastal Aquaculture Authority) only. Use of banned aqua products will attract a huge penalty or cancellation of license for the concerned aqua shop," a senior official of the department said.
West Bengal’s move came after India’s main drug regulatory authority recently told states and union territories to strictly control the sale and distribution of regulated veterinary antibiotics in the aquaculture industry, especially in the shrimp sector.
India’s Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) has also written to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, asking the agency to take “effective measures” to restrict the use of banned antibiotics in raising shrimp, fish, and other animals used in the food sector.
In January, the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying sent a note to the chief secretaries of all states and union territories to tackle the threats posed by the use of banned antibiotics in the aquaculture sector. The ministry warned that India’s seafood exports might be hurt if no decisive action is taken.
Concerns about the use of antibiotics in the South Asia nation’s aquaculture industry have prompted its seafood buyers to take actions, with the U.S. having denied some shrimp cargoes from India because of the antibiotics presence in the products and the E.U. raising the rates of tests to detect antibiotics residues in shrimp from India.
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