The Hindu Business Line : `Tuna fishing will boost marine product exports'

THE country's marine products exports are stagnating at around Rs 6,000 crore per annum for quite a few years and tuna fishing holds the key to boosting the exports and touching the Rs 10,000-crore mark. However, a concerted effort by all concerned — the Government, seafood exporters and processors, the MPEDA and fishermen — is necessary to reach the goal.

This was emphasised by several speakers at a one-day seminar on tuna fishing organised by the Marine Products Exports Development Authority (MPEDA) here on Wednesday.

Mr K. Haribabu, Vice-Chairman of MPEDA, spoke about the efforts being made since 1999 here to take up tuna fishing on a commercial scale and how several companies had made futile efforts to take up tuna export.

He suggested that the Government of India must import suitable vessels (30-40 tuna fishing liners) and call for bids from local entrepreneurs to take up tuna fishing. "Joint ventures, vessel chartering and other bids have failed. That seems to me the sole solution for exploiting tuna resources,'' he said.

Admitting that the efforts to take up tuna exports had failed so far, Mr G. Mohan Kumar, Chairman of MPEDA, said there was no cause for despondency. At a cost of Rs 30-35 lakh, the local trawlers used for shrimp fishing could be converted.

"Already eight trawlers here have been converted. The Ministry of Agriculture has given each vessel a subsidy of Rs 15 lakh. The MPEDA is also contemplating some subsidies and incentives for tuna exports,'' he said.

He said it was not difficult to build up the required infrastructure for tuna fishing, processing and export. "However, an integrated effort is called for,'' he said.

Mr Ch. Rajagopal Chaudhury, Chairman of Devi Seafoods and Vice-President of the Seafood Exporters' Association of India, said his company was exporting tuna to Mexico, Thailand and a few other countries.

"But we have to go a long way and improve our quality, if we have to get into the lucrative markets of the US, Japan and the European Union. However, we have no choice, as our shrimp exports have run into trouble in recent times. We have to turn to tuna,'' he said.

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