The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) has cautioned coastal dwellers against consuming and selling assorted fish which was washed ashore over the weekend.
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Some fish were found along the shores of the Osu Castle beach on Friday.
Similarly, over 80 mammals believed to be melon-headed whales were washed ashore at the Axim-Bewire beach in the Nzema East Municipality on Sunday.
This attracted many residents, some of whom picked them up either for consumption or for sale.
Roderick Agyei, Deputy Chief Executive of the Authority’s Food Division has called upon inhabitants in these areas who carted loads of these fish to their homes to surrender them to his outfit for proper disposal.
Speaking to Raymond Nyamador on the Happy Morning Show aired on Happy FM and e.TV Ghana, Roderick stated, “The circumstance under which the fish were washed ashore is questionable and we have started destroying what remains on shores nationwide. Anyone who picked any of these fishes home should surrender them for destruction”.
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He reiterated that it was unusual for fishes to wash up ashore and deemed their proper disposal a necessity. “This is an occurrence we need to be watchful of and we want everyone to dispose of the fish very quick”.
Using the case of dead mammals by the roadside as a reference point, he stated, “Even when we see dead goats by the roadside, we don’t pick them up so why pick these fishes for consumption now? It is not safe and we need to return all of them”.
He however advised the Ghanaian populace to only buy fish from their regular cold stores assuring that fish in the market was safe for consumption. Cautioning Ghanaians further, he charged them to thoroughly inspect fish before making purchases.
