Pesticide Residues in Fish - Pesticides: Evaluation of Environmental Pollution - page 384

studied may be experiencing some degree of endocrine disruption.” According to the US
Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), “Endocrine disruption has the potential to compromise
proper development in organisms, leading to reproductive, behavioral, immune system,
and neurological problems, as well as the development of cancer. Effects often do not show
up until later in life.”
Pesticides are useful tools in agriculture and forestry, but their contribution to the
gradual degradation of the aquatic ecosystem cannot be ignored (Konar 1975; Basak
and Konar 1976; 1977). The aquatic ecosystem as a greater part of the natural envi-
ronment is also faced with the threat of a shrinking genetic base and biodiversity.
Anabas testudineus , Channa punctatus , and other indigenous small fish use paddy fields
as breeding and nursery grounds. Barbodes gonionotus is an important species for inte-
grated rice-fish farming. Pesticides at high concentrations are known to reduce the
survival, growth, and reproduction of fish (Mckim et al. 1976) and produce many vis-
ible effects on fish (Johnson 1968). Due to the residual effects of pesticides, important
organs such as the kidney, liver, gills, stomach, brain, muscles, and genital organs are
damaged. Until the use of pesticides in crop farming is replaced by other means of pest
control such as integrated pest management, less toxic pesticides at lowest possible
doses need to be recommended.
13.6 Conclusion
Fish and shellfish raised by farming are likely to concentrate environmental contaminants
and aquaculture drugs such as pesticide residues, antibiotic residues, hormone residues,
etc. All these residues pose various kinds of health risks to consumers of these fish and
fishery products. Thus, with various kinds of human activity, the occurrence of pathogens,
pollutants, toxicants, and other undesirable compounds in fishery products is fast becom-
ing a common phenomenon in developed and developing countries.
In spite of all these health hazards, fish and shellfish continue to be in great demand as
food material in the developed world on account of the better taste, nutritional quality, and
medicinal properties. To avoid public health problems in using fish and shellfish as food
for mass consumption, several quality assurance programs were developed and enforced
from time to time. Today, various kinds of quality standards like Codex standards, US
FDA standards, EU Norms, BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards) standards, etc. are in opera-
tion at national and international levels. To achieve these standards, several quality assur-
ance programs have also been developed and practised in different parts of the world. The
HACCP system of the United States, the European Council directives, the QMP (Quality
Management Program) of Canada, and TQM (Total Quality Management) of Japan are
such quality assurance programs aimed to ensure safety and quality of fish and fishery
products consumed in these countries.
With change of time, all these quality standards and quality assurance programs became
more and more stringent and mandatory and posed severe challenges to the developing
countries, which used to export a major share of their fish and fishery products to these
developed countries. As a result, many developing countries including India had to face
trade ban on fish exports. The imposition of HACCP in the early 1990s by US FDA, the EU
ban of fishery products from India in 1997 on account of sanitation and hygiene, and the
recent rejection of several consignments on account of antibacterial substances, antibiotic