After foodgrains and cash crops, the Union government has now trained its guns on the rise in the prices of fish – particularly in the states of Kerala and West Bengal where it is a staple. Alarmed over rising prices of fish, the government has directed its animal husbandry department to monitor prices in Kerala and West Bengal, where fish constitutes a chief ingredient of staple diet. The prices will be monitored with assistance from the Kochi-based Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute. ?A committee of secretaries which met recently has taken note of the sharp rise in fish prices, mainly in key consuming states like Kerala and West Bengal and has directed the animal husbandry department to take stock of the situation,? a senior government official said.
Prices of sea-fish have a weightage of around 0.39% on the wholesale price index (WPI) -based inflation. It?s prices has picked up by around 58% since April 1, while in the case of inland fish ? that has weightage of 0.49% on the wholesale price index? the rate of price increase has been around 2.5% in the last three months. Though the weightage of fish is miniscule on the WPI, but its impact on common households in Kerala and West Bengal is huge. Experts said that the monitoring of prices would ensure that any undue increase is checked. As per industry sources, India produces more than 70 lakh tonne of fish annually.