11th Seafood Fair To Open On Friday

The Indian seafood industry hopes to obtain the much needed international exposure and also draw the governments attention to the problems facing the industry at the three-day `11th Indian Seafood Fair which starts here on Friday.

This is the second time that Kochi, the home of the Indian seafood industry, is hosting the fair. It is being jointly organised by the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) and the Indian Seafood Exporters Association.

The fair assumes significance in view of the adverse circumstances through which the industry passing, mainly the recent Supreme Court order banning coastal aquaculture farms which provided a major chunk of shrimp for exports.

 

The United States Court of International Trades strict insistence on fitting turtle excluder devices (TED) in trawlers as a condition for allowing exports of marine shrimp to the US, a major market for Indian seafood, and stringent quality specifications by European countries are also posing problems for the industry which is struggling to meet this years export target.

Authority chairman K B Pillai said the fair aims to demonstrate the strides made by Indian seafood processing sector and acquaint with the state-of-the art technological developments taking place.

In this context, significance was attached to the visit of a high-level delegation from China which has emerged as a major importer of Indian seafood items.

Pillai said the delegation arriving in India in connection with the fair was also scheduled to meet leading seafood exporters and visit fisheries institutions, adding that their visit was expected to give added momentum to Indias efforts to improve bilateral trade relations in the field of fisheries.

C Cherian, president of the Indian Seafood Exporters Association, said the fair to be inaugurated by commerce minister B B Ramaiah and officials from the ministry and representatives of the state government were expected to provide an ideal opportunity to highlight the problems of the industry during the fair for necessary action.

The fair takes place at a time when the Centre has identified seafood as one of the thrust items for export.

Considering the potential and prospects of seafood exports, MPEDA is currently involved in introducing a series of measures for popularising its products.