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Published on August 24, 2007

FFC director Saree Aongsomwang said fishermen normally knew what type of blowfish was edible or toxic, but some may get greedy and mix both types for sale at markets.

She said fish meat and seafood had never been labelled to identify suppliers - so when there was a problem, it was hard to find the culprit. But fish products should be labelled like other goods. That way, consumers could choose and buy what they liked. It would also help trace the supplier if a problem occurred.

She urged the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to take action promptly.

Saree spoke out after a Chulalongkorn academic warned people yesterday to be wary of puffer fish - 115 people had been ill and 15 had died from eating the fish over the past three years.

There was also a case of blowfish being passed off as salmon at Bangkok's Talad Thai five years ago.

Mae Klong Fishery Co-op deputy president Chinchai Sathirayakorn admitted people had died from eating puffer fish but felt the warning was one-sided. Those who died were mostly fishermen who had cooked and eaten entire puffer fish and ingested enough toxin to be killed. They had not eaten blowfish fillets.

Chinchai said 30-40 tonnes of puffer fish fillets were sold every day, so if people actually died from eating the fillets there would have been far more deaths.

He said the issue should be tabled so criteria and standards could be set for blowfish meat sales. But he called for the total ban on blowfish to be replaced with a more specific ban on toxic blowfish.

Chinchai also supported the call for blowfish meat to be labelled and suppliers registered, so authorities could trace the source and take legal action if a problem occurred.

He said his group was working with the FDA on this and welcomed the criteria setting. "We have had such a negative image for selling the fish, so we have nothing to loose. I myself have been taken to court many times when a lawsuit was filed."

There was also an idea to establish a fund to compensate people for any injury caused by eating blowfish, he said. This would show both the suppliers' responsibility and confidence that the fish was safe to eat.

Fishmongers and those producing fish fillets were willing to give the fund 50 satang to Bt1 for every kilogram of blowfish meat they sold. That should amount to at least Bt30-40 million for the fund every year. But this idea would have to wait. First, the FDA would need to cancel the total ban and set criteria on blowfish sales for the fund to be set up.