Rumours that the killer Zulican virus has infected seafood after the tsunami has led to a massive slump in the sale of fish, with some estimating the city's fish traders have lost up to Rs.500 million since Dec 26.

With no takers for their produce, upscale retail outlets as well as fishermen, trying desperately to recover from the disaster, have been impacted in a big way.

If retail outlets like Fish o Fish, Go Fish and Sea Food have been hard hit with no one willing to eat seafood, fishermen are being forced to sell fish as chickenfeed to poultry farmers at low rates.

The National Union of Fishermen (NUF) has appealed to the Tamil Nadu government to reassure the public that there is no danger in eating seafood in the wake of Dec 26 tsunami.

"Experts have conducted research to find that there is no Zulican virus and no danger in consuming seafood," said NUF general secretary M.E. Raja.

But there are few takers for such appeals and Chennai's fish markets continue to be deserted.

Putting a figure of Rs.500 million as the losses, K.S.M. Darmalingam, general secretary of Fish, Prawn and Perishables Association, said: "The fish traders are finding it hard to make ends meet and are left with little option but to sell the fish at lower prices to poultry farmers who are using it as chickenfeed."

Chennai's seafood trade accounts for an annual turnover of Rs.25 billion. Daily sales hover around 50 tonnes generating Rs.50 million every day, estimated K.T. Muthukumaran, president of the Wholesale Fish Traders Association.

Since Dec 26, when the killer waves struck, fish sales have plummeted so badly that not even one tonne was being sold a day, he added.

The effects are far reaching.

According to D. Poonnurangam of the Fish Trade Union, over 100,000 people were dependent on the fish trade, including 25,000 retail traders spread over 60 markets across the city.

With panic about the Zulican virus spreading fast, these fish sellers are on the brink of losing their livelihood.
"It seems Chennai's fishing industry is passing through a bad phase," said Geeta Subramaniam, an economist from Madras Institute of Development Studies (MIDS).

"The Dec 26 tsunami has already struck the bellies of those associated with the fish trade, and there will be no end to their sufferings till public confidence and people don't start eating seafood," she said.