April 6, 2010

Despite having skilled manpower and quality fish products, India's packaging quality in the seafood sector was not up to the mark, said M. Sakthivel, president of the Aquaculture Foundation of India.

Seafood importing countries are increasingly concerned about the quality of packaging. Failure to meet international standards means incurring a loss of INR500 crore (US$113 million) a year, added Sakthivel.

Currently, India exported shrimps to Europe, Japan and the US. However, poor packaging has affected India's overall seafood exports at the international level.

Methods to improve seafood packaging include post-harvest hygienic preservation methods and better packaging technologies to maintain the quality of fish products. There is also a need to work on live fish transport packaging, as consumers are eager to consume ready-to-cook fish, according to Sakthivel.