Thrissur: The availability of fish has gone down as the annual ban on trawling boats is in force off the coast of Kerala. To make up for the reduced fresh catch from the seas, chemical-laced stored fish are being pushed into the markets.

The Food Safety officials seized 1,570 kg of rotten fish brought from Balasore in Odisha from the Thrissur railway station after a long standoff with railway authorities.

Eighteen thermocol boxes, each weighing nearly 80 kg, were unloaded from the Shalimar Express to platform No 1 of Thrissur railway station at 4 pm on Friday.

The stinking fish lay on the railway platform for a whole night. On being alerted about the foul-smelling cargo Food Safety officials arrived, but the Railway Protection Force (RPF) refused to allow an inspection of the cargo.

They argued that the railway Food Safety wing should carry out the examination and asked the State Food Safety officials to return. However, the latter insisted that they would go back only after the arrival of the railway Food Safety wing.

The arguments and counter-arguments continued till 11.30 pm and finally, the State Food Safety officials and police personnel decided to wait outside the station.

The consignment was supposed to be delivered to four merchants based at Sakthan Market. Nearly half of the fish lot was taken out stealthily by a group of people around 8 am on Saturday through another exit. The consignment was taken to the market in autorickshaws, but the cops chased them and brought the craters back to the railway station.

The Food Safety officials then prized open the craters and were shocked to find rotten fish infested with worms. And the examination done using rapid test kits revealed the presence of harmful ammonium.

Twelve of the 18 boxes contained fish dried with salt; the rest six had raw fish stored in ice. Most of the boxes included pomfret, seer fish, and sole fish.

The officials collected samples and sent the same for detailed examination at the Regional Chemical Examiner's Laboratory at Kakkanad in Kochi. They then destroyed the rest of the lot, except three boxes of dried fish. They will be returned to the owners if the test finds no use of chemicals.