I’m Gwen Outen with the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.Officials are seeking to ease fears in southern Asia about thesafety of eating fish from the countries hit by tsunami waves. OnFriday the Food and Agriculture Organization reported no evidence ofan increase in seafood-related diseases in the affected areas.
The F.A.O. advised against removing fish from the diet. Millionsof people in those countries get most of their animal protein fromfish.
But the United Nations agency did warn of concern that damagedwastewater systems might leak into fishing grounds or fish farms.This would create a risk of intestinal infections. The F.A.O. saysthe best advice is to eat only healthy looking fish or seafood thatis fully cleaned and well cooked.
The agency also noted another risk from the huge underseaearthquake and waves on December twenty-sixth. Algae and heavymetals in the sea could increase to poisonous levels.
Red tides or large numbers of dead fish would signal extremecases. The Food and Agriculture Organization says fishing areaswould need to be closed. But it says current seasonal conditionsmake such events unlikely.
The F.A.O. has estimated that twomillion people in twelve countries in southern Asia and easternAfrica will need food aid. Yet the extent of damage to food suppliesmay not be known for weeks.
Aceh and Northern Sumatra were the two Indonesian provinces mostaffected by the tsunami. They produce about ten percent ofIndonesia’s rice. The F.A.O. says the rice crop for harvestbeginning in March had just been planted. It is not known how thecrop will be affected.
Important rice growing areas of Sri Lanka were also hit hard bythe waves. Planting for the main growing season had just beenfinished. The F.A.O. notes that Sri Lanka already had a limited foodsupply.
There was no serious damage to rice production in Thailand orIndia. Thailand exports more rice than any other nation.
In coastal areas of countries hit by the tsunami, many survivorsare now out of work. The waves wrecked not only thousands of fishingboats, but also fish cages used in fish farming, a growing industry.In some places in Sri Lanka, eighty percent of the fishing boatswere destroyed or damaged. The director general of fisheriesdevelopment says the industry is back to the level of the nineteenfifties.
This VOA Special English Agriculture Report was written by MarioRitter. I’m Gwen Outen.