Sixty-five-year-old Mandku Kachche is trying hard to sell her stock of Bombay Duck at the municipal market in Vile Parle (East). But nobody’s buying.‘‘First it was the bhaiyyas, now it’s the tsunami,’’ she fumes.Like her, Kolis in the city — already resentful of door-to-door fish vendors from North India — are claiming that Mumbai has lost its appetite for seafood following rumours that fish are feeding on tsunami victims’ bodies.‘‘There was this news that somebody found a finger in the belly of a fish,’’ Kachche said. ‘‘So, now people don’t want to eat fish.’’Small vendors put the fall in sales at nearly 50 per cent. Though exporters say the international market has not given any reason to complain, local distributors are feeling the pinch.‘‘We’ve seen a 25 per cent drop in business,’’ says Sangram Sawant, MD, Pesca Fresh. ‘‘People have heard stories that the fish are stale and were washed to the shore. But our catch is fresh. It comes from the west coast which was not affected by the tsunami,’’ he adds.Vijay Worlikar, VP, National Association of Fishermen, Maharashtra, attempts to explain why these rumours are baseless. ‘‘The fish we eat do not feed on bodies,’’ he says. ‘‘They eat sea weed or other small forms of aquatic life.’’Fisherwoman Ashwini Patil from Virar runs her own quality test. ‘‘We eat it first,’’ she says. ‘‘And then sell it.’’ But it’s not enough to convince customers, she admits. ‘‘Ask any fisherwoman from Virar to Colaba and she will tell you of the empty markets.’’Vilas Patil, secretary, Mumbai Fresh Fish Dealers Association, is optimistic. ‘‘I have noticed things improving slightly over the last couple of days,’’ he says. Andheri resident Swati Rangnekar isn’t bothered either. ‘‘I don’t think there is any logic to what people are saying,’’ she says, adding her family has stuck to their twice-a-week fish treat.
