The Hindu Business Line : Ailing seafood units seek relief

THE Forum for Revival and Reconstruction of Seafood Export Industries in India has sought the Union Government to initiate steps for the revival of 150 units in crisis.

In a press release issued here on Monday, the local members of the Kerala-based forum said there were 400 seafood exports in the country and about 150 of them were ailing or had gone sick due to the crisis in the market. Many of these units contributed greatly in the past to boost seafood exports and they had to be revived, they said.

The forum urged the Union Government to offer relief through a one-time settlement (like in 1997) for the fishing trawler industry to the extent of Rs 180 crore, on the basis of recommendations from the Murari committee.

The release said the 150 units together owed the banks and financial institutions Rs 300 crore, and 75 per cent of the outstanding amount should be waived, as a part of the one-time settlement (OTS).

Justifying the demand for such a package, the forum said during the past decade, the industry suffered heavily as huge capital investment was required for modernising the plants and the costs of freezing, processing and exporting had gone up.

Indiscriminate exploitation of fishing grounds by foreign vessels exploiting provisions relating to second-hand vessels in the new exim policy, large-scale rejection of seafood products exported to the US under the new US food administration laws, outbreak of diseases and the restrictions on aquaculture imposed by courts were the other reasons.

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