Self-assessment by Farmers Key to Counter Trade Barrier in Seafood Export: Experts

HYDERABAD:
Farmers need to adopt self-correction and self-introspection practices and identify sustainable and diversification methods to make strides in aquaculture and counter trade barriers, according to experts.

They were speaking at a session, “Sustainable production and diversification”, on the sidelines of Aqua Aquaria India 2019, a showpiece event of Asia’s aquaculture sector, that got underway at Hitex Exhibition Centre here on Friday. The event is an initiative of Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) under the Commerce Ministry.

Speaking on “Significance of Aquaculture in seafood export from India”, Dr. Ram Mohan M. K., Joint Director (Marketing), MPEDA, Kochi, said export-oriented aquaculture continued to be dominated by shrimp. “India’s share in global seafood export in 2018 was US $6.82 bn, and the 87 percent of them was frozen shrimp. Shrimp is the major item being exported to five markets.”

“There are biosecurity issues in markets such as Australia, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Thailand and Canada for shrimps.Countries like Saudi Arabia have also imposed ban on import of raw/live fishes citing pathogenic presence. These issues have to be seriously addressed by farmers and exporters,” he said.

“There is increased vigil by importing countries on the residues of antibiotics and other banned pharmacologically active substances now. The European Union (EU) has increased testing of aquaculture shrimp consignments. Japan has implemented 100 percent testing system for detecting the presence of antibiotics,” Dr Ram Mohan explained.

“MPEDA has set up 11 Elisa laboratories for qualification tests of shrimps to check if they have residues of antibiotics at a minimal price. An Indian Seafood Signature Stall is coming up soon at Kochi International Airport and it is planned to set up similar facilities in other parts of the country as well,” he said.

“We can improve productivity through advanced technology and expansion of aquaculture. Farmers need to adopt sustainable practices for sustained production and market acceptance. They have to comply with market regulations. Changing of demographic patterns change the product requirement of customers. The sector has to adapt to the need for convenience and healthy food,” he added.

Talking on “Sustainable aquaculture in an era of diversification: Successful examples from Asia”, Dr. Krishna Salin, Associate Professor, Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok, noted aquaculture is the fastest growing food production sector. “Asia is the leader by contributing 90 percent of aquaculture production. China leads in the list with 61.5 percent followed by India (7.1%) in total aquaculture production.”

According to him, species diversity in aquaculture is lower compared to agriculture.“For diversification, we have to increase the number of species farmed. Expansion of farming to more diverse environments, genetic improvement, and domestication of native species are the other ways.”

He noted that low capital investment, good farm management practices, high productivity and market demand make aquaculture more competitive.

“China’s history of aquaculture farming and consumption dates back to the 11 century BC. Over six million people are employed in China’s farming industry. They have methods like integration of rice and fish culture. China has aquaculture production in reservoirs around one ton per hectare while India has about 200kg per hectare,”he said.

Dr. Salin added that ecosystem-based intensive farming methods are emerging in Thailand, which is world’s largest exporter of shrimp. Their 95 percent of production is white shrimp.