Abstract:
The fisheries sector plays an important role in the Sri Lankan economy.
However, the post-harvest quality of our local fish production seems
unsatisfactory. Furthermore, the sanitary conditions of the fishery harbours
and the fish landing sites also appear to be unhygienic. The objective of this
study was to assess the bacterial quality of water, ice and fish at a fishery
harbour located in the Southern region of Sri Lanka. Water samples were
collected from the jetty area (A), oil-spilled area (B), tap water (C) and area
where single-day boats were landed (D). Fish samples (n=8) were collected
from single-day boats and multi-day boats. All three types of samples were
collected during the period from June to July, 2013. The degree of bacterial
contamination of harbour water at different locations was statistically
analyzed. Escherichia coli (E. coli), other coliforms, Pseudomonas and
Bacillus spp. were isolated from the harbour water. The bacterial
contamination of A was significantly (p<0.05) higher compared to that of B
and D. Interestingly, there was no significant difference between the
bacterial contamination of jetty-water and that of tap water. Bacterial counts
carried out with tap water showed very high bacterial counts and were
positive for E. coli, which proved unacceptable for drinking. The bacterial
contamination of ice was also significantly (p<0.05) higher compared to that
of harbour water. Thus ice produced at the harbour can be a potential source
of bacterial contamination for post-harvest fish. Fish from both single-day
boats and multi-day boats (before and after washing) showed very high
bacterial contamination. Washing with harbour water does not help to reduce
the bacterial contamination of post-harvest fish.
