Most of India's seafood processing capacity on idle

 

 

India's marine processing industry is under-utilised as 80% of its processing capacity is lying idle.

 

The marine food industry has a daily processing capacity of 14,000 tonnes of fish, mostly for freezing, but about 80% is not being used currently due to stagnant fish catch. The capacity is built to process peak catch.

 

India has 409 modern freezing plants, of which 221 are approved by the European Union. In a bid to utilise the capacity, marine exporters want easier procedures for importing fish for processing and onward exports.

 

Marine exporters are permitted to import but there are procedural bottlenecks, said Anwar Hashim, President of the Seafood Exporters Association of India.

 

Exporters need to obtain a sanitary import permit, which takes at least two weeks to receive. Imported products are also required to be tested by authorised local labs, when instead, the certificate from agencies in countries from where the products are imported, should be accepted, said Hashim.

 

Another issue facing the industry is the ''wastes'' generated while processing. Most of the buyers want the heads of shrimps to be removed and only 65% of a cuttlefish's body is edible. The 'waste' thus generated is a nuisance and need to be disposed off. With some government support, all the wastes can be converted into useful byproducts, such as biodiesel.

 

Hashim estimates that the industry generates about 400,000 tonnes of discards. India exported 602,835 tonnes of fish in 2008-09.