Oil slick: Smell the fish before you eat it, say Thai officials

[webfact]

OIL SLICK
Smell the fish before you eat it, say officials
The Nation


Photo : Watcharachai Klaipong

RAYONG: -- After the oil spill near Rayong, the Fisheries Department has one piece of advice for seafood lovers: "Don't avoid it, just sniff it first to see if it smells of crude oil."

Meanwhile, the Public Health Ministry has vowed to check if seafood sold in the market is contaminated.

"Don't panic. Normally, aquatic animals swim to safety when they detect something abnormal around their habitat," Fisheries Department director-general Wimol Jantrarota said yesterday.

He said the fish that had washed up around Koh Samet's Ao Phrao beach had died because they were unable to escape in time.

According to Wimol, aquatic animals exposed to the oil would smell bad even after being cooked.

Speaking while on a working trip overseas, Public Health Minister Pradit Sintavanarong said information available in other countries where similar accidents had happened showed that the presence of the carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon chemical was higher in marine life in the wake of oil spills.

"So, we will check the quality of the seawater and contamination of the seafood to protect people," Pradit said.

He added that the adverse impacts of the spill could be cut down if the clean-up and recovery operations were implemented quickly and properly.

Fishing industry suffers

Meanwhile, Rayong Small-Trawler Fisheries Association president Jaturas Iamworanirun said the spill had hit the livelihoods of the local fishermen very badly.

"Each fishing trawler used to catch between Bt2,000 and Bt3,000 worth of squid per trip, but now they barely get five squids per trip," he said, adding that most marine animals had either swum away or died.

According to him, there are about 1,300 small fishing trawlers in Rayong that have sustained losses of about Bt5.4 million.

Jaturas said small fishing trawlers usually travelled to a spot some 12 nautical miles from the shore and paid Bt800 for fuel per trip.

"If they have to travel farther, they will have to pay more for petrol, perhaps as much as Bt1,800 per trip," he said.


-- The Nation 2013-07-31

[kurnell]

Smell it? I think the colour might give it away?

[notmyself]

"Don't avoid it, just sniff it first to see if it smells of crude oil."

I had no idea it was that easy.

[Soupdragon]

Oil is not something that marine animals normally encounter in their environment. Are they equipped to detect it and would they instinctively know what it was and what to do if they suddenly found themselves swimming in it ?

[canman]

The mind boggles

[notmyself]

Oil is not something that marine animals normally encounter in their environment. Are they equipped to detect it and would they instinctively know what it was and what to do if they suddenly found themselves swimming in it ?

It reminds me of YECreationists saying that the dinosaurs died during the flood because they were slow at avoiding the rising water.

Fisheries Department director-general Wimol Jantrarota doesn't come across as the perfect man for the job.

I'd like to know what happened to the 5 squid too.

[Pimay1]

Speaking while on a working trip overseas

Good one.

[PatOngo]

I can't smell any fish,I can smell plenty of rats though

[geriatrickid]

CNN has quoted PTT; PTT Global Chemical said the company had deployed booms to contain the oil as well as oil spill dispersant. While dispersant can hide the visible surface impact of the oil, the oil molecules and chemical components will remain in the area.

The danger is mentioned here;

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/657168-rayong-oil-spill-caution-urged-over-use-of-chemical-dispersants/#entry6663876

My understanding of the two major commercial brands is that each is more suitable for certain types of oil products. A concern expressed is that if Thailand is sourcing one of the knockoff copy brands, the dispersant may not be as effective and more dangerous than the two primary formulations. One of the two brand formulations Corexit (owned by a BP/ Exxon venture), while effective against some types of oil has a side effect of multiplying the toxicity of oil by approximately 50X and is described as poisonous to crustaceans such as shrimp. Corexit is also considered to be carcinogenic.

Mu point here is that these dispersants cannot necessarily be detected by the smell test and if ingested by humans may most likely be associated with illness. Once word gets out of the use of the dispersants, Thailand's fish exporters and industry will most likely take a massive hit.

Edited July 31, 2013 by geriatrickid

[jackr]

"Don't panic. Normally, aquatic animals swim to safety when they detect something abnormal around their habitat,"

If that's the case, I'm surprised there are any 'aquatic animals' here at all.

[bigbamboo]

CNN has quoted PTT; PTT Global Chemical said the company had deployed booms to contain the oil as well as oil spill dispersant. While dispersant can hide the visible surface impact of the oil, the oil molecules and chemical components will remain in the area.

The danger is mentioned here;

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/657168-rayong-oil-spill-caution-urged-over-use-of-chemical-dispersants/#entry6663876

My understanding of the two major commercial brands is that each is more suitable for certain types of oil products. A concern expressed is that if Thailand is sourcing one of the knockoff copy brands, the dispersant may not be as effective and more dangerous than the two primary formulations. One of the two brand formulations Corexit (owned by a BP/ Exxon venture), while effective against some types of oil has a side effect of multiplying the toxicity of oil by approximately 50X and is described as poisonous to crustaceans such as shrimp. Corexit is also considered to be carcinogenic.

Mu point here is that these dispersants cannot necessarily be detected by the smell test and if ingested by humans may most likely be associated with illness. Once word gets out of the use of the dispersants, Thailand's fish exporters and industry will most likely take a massive hit.

Careful GK. It won't be long before the government issues a threat of dire retribution to anyone spreading such rumours.

[tomyummer]

I was just about to add a crude (no pun intended) remark about the locals trying to push off tainted seafood because they bought it on the cheap. Then I thought that would be rude and condescending to think that the locals would actually do it and that I shouldn't bash on the Thai community. But now that their own government is warning the public.....

Smell the fish?

[jaidam]

The pollution problem in this case is exacerbated due to the characteristics of the Gulf of Thailand being very shallow and with minimal tidal range, prevailing wind direction isn't helping also.It is a very enclosed system. Had this spill happened off Bali with deep waters and strong currents for example it would have been dispersed very quickly. In this case the crude oil and the dispersal chemicals will have a severe impact on the upper gulf ecosystem. Good luck to them in minimizing the impact, and I hope they will be willing to take any advise given by professionals in the industry regardless of where they come from.

Just smelling the seafood will not be a proper indication of whether it is safe for consumption, samples must be taken and properly analyzed before it is considered safe. A total fishing ban in the area for a month or so, and then rigorous testing would be a better policy IMO.

Edited July 31, 2013 by jaidam

[BeforeTigers]

To all Thai people within earshot of my keyboard:
You (mostly) cannot smell crude oil contamination.
Do your own research.
Your government is lying to you, again.

Edited July 31, 2013 by BeforeTigers

[Thai at Heart]

CNN has quoted PTT; PTT Global Chemical said the company had deployed booms to contain the oil as well as oil spill dispersant. While dispersant can hide the visible surface impact of the oil, the oil molecules and chemical components will remain in the area.

The danger is mentioned here;

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/657168-rayong-oil-spill-caution-urged-over-use-of-chemical-dispersants/#entry6663876

My understanding of the two major commercial brands is that each is more suitable for certain types of oil products. A concern expressed is that if Thailand is sourcing one of the knockoff copy brands, the dispersant may not be as effective and more dangerous than the two primary formulations. One of the two brand formulations Corexit (owned by a BP/ Exxon venture), while effective against some types of oil has a side effect of multiplying the toxicity of oil by approximately 50X and is described as poisonous to crustaceans such as shrimp. Corexit is also considered to be carcinogenic.

Mu point here is that these dispersants cannot necessarily be detected by the smell test and if ingested by humans may most likely be associated with illness. Once word gets out of the use of the dispersants, Thailand's fish exporters and industry will most likely take a massive hit.

Oil makes great food for bacteria. Cirexit breaks the surface tension of the oil and emulsifies it with water thus allowing bacteria in the environment to break the oil down naturally.

However, it is also great food for bacteria that can produce toxins. This is the big danger for seafood, plus oil ingested by seafood itself being toxic. So the corexit itself is not the big issue because it dilutes to nothing in the expanse of the sea, but crude oil takes time, so there will be a massive increase in bacterial activity around the spill.

Don't consume the seafood for a good while yet.

[jaltsc]

WOW!!! The only things that don't smell fishy about trying to minimize the gravity of this whole incident are the fish

[chooka]

Umm Fish and Rice that will be nice. Fish stinks anyway and I don't eat it so enjoy people.

[Scott]

Off-topic posts and sexual references have been deleted.

Stay on the topic, please.

[ginjag]

5 Star hotel Bangkok,( picture this) big noise family sit down for dinner, when the fish course arrives the waiter says " Madam, Sir, the chef informed me to ask you to SMELL the fish before you eat it, if it smells of crude oil, we will give you a discount off your bill".

[CrisRMenumate]

you should always sniff oysters before eating them, just ask Michael Douglas! But now it applies to fish in LOS as well?

[cloudhopper]

Smell the fish before you eat it, say officials

....because no one else is going to before it gets to you.

[h90]

"Don't avoid it, just sniff it first to see if it smells of crude oil."

I had no idea it was that easy.

And if it smells like crude oil, just wash it before eating....

And it won't have an impact on fish exports or tourists visiting Koh Samet.

And if it will recover to 110 % within 1 month....

The newspapers should just stop writing about it as it damages the country.

(future statements from our great government)

[RickBradford]

Meanwhile, Channel 3 anchorman Sorayut moved his morning news desk to Ko Samed to show a pristine beach behind him, with the equivalent of 'Come in, the water's lovely!'

Only the very cynical would suggest that vested interests would hand out cash to Sorayut (who has considerable form in that area) to present Ko Samed as a place for business as usual.

[LivinLOS]

"Don't panic. Normally, aquatic animals swim to safety when they detect something abnormal around their habitat," Fisheries Department director-general Wimol Jantrarota said yesterday.

"Each fishing trawler used to catch between Bt2,000 and Bt3,000 worth of squid per trip, but now they barely get five squids per trip," he said, adding that most marine animals had either swum away or died.

So surely hes complaining about the very thing that the fisheries dept says is preventing people getting poisoned.

If they are trying to fish in an area the marine life has cleared out of, they are trying to catch the remaining poisoned marine life, and then sell it !!

[klauskunkel]

OIL SLICK

Smell the fish before you eat it, say officials

...after that did not go over that well with the Thai people (who started to educate them anyway???), the same officials came up with another sure indicator: set the fish on fire, if it burns readily, don't eat it!

[IrishIvan]

I smell everything before I eat it

[belg]

nice one

they will not get rid of the fish, just clean it a bit and sell it

i call this THAINESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

can you smelllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll the fish, cooking in the kitchen

[Bung]

You just need to deep fry the fish, the oils will mix and you will be fine. Job done.

[monty1412]

Gee this is getting so easy now to eat food in Thailand.. you smell the fish to detect crude oil.. and get the rice sent off to a lab to test methyl bromide levels.. wow dinner in Thailand just go a whole lot easier and safer.

Do these guys actually have a brain ??

[Soupdragon]

Gee this is getting so easy now to eat food in Thailand.. you smell the fish to detect crude oil.. and get the rice sent off to a lab to test methyl bromide levels.. wow dinner in Thailand just go a whole lot easier and safer.

Do these guys actually have a brain ??

Have you seen the commercials that have just started on the BBC World channel ? "Thailand The Kitchen Of The World" complete with images of Thai rice and seafood.

Priceless