Bahrain has banned imports of grey mullet following the death of 600 tons of fish in Kuwait's waters, reported the Gulf Daily News.
The health ministry has issued a memo to health inspectors at all entry points to stop the fish from being imported.
The Kuwaiti government has banned fishing in its waters and set up a committee to investigate the mass fish deaths, thought to have been caused by temperatures soaring to more than 50 degrees Celsius.
Grey mullet, which can be found in Kuwait's waters in great numbers, will be banned from Bahrain's fish markets as a precaution until tests prove it is safe for consumers, said the health ministry's assistant undersecretary for primary care and public health, Abdulwahab Mohammed Abdulwahab.
"The Bahraini market imports some fish from neighboring countries and grey mullet is one of them, so it will be out of the market till confirmation of the cause of death comes from the Kuwaiti and Gulf Cooperation Council health labs," he said.
"It is suspected that the deaths occurred because of high temperatures and some say it is because of some environmental pollution at the area of their fishing ground."
But a Kuwaiti newspaper blamed the dumping of toxic chemicals by the state-owned Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) for the deaths of tons of fish, reported the DPA.
The government has launched an investigation to determine how more than 600 tons of fish came to be washed up on the shores of the Gulf nation over the past few days.
In a front-page report, Al Watan newspaper accused KOC of routinely dumping excessive amounts of chlorine and other toxic chemicals into the Arabian Gulf, said the agency – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
