Green certification guidelines

The Central Marine Fisheries Research Centre (CMFRI) and Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) could jointly draw green certification guidelines for marine ornamental fish breeding and reduce dependence on wild collection from coral reef habitations, CMFRI Director A. Gopalakrishnan has said.

On the sidelines of a training programme at the Mandapam Regional Centre of the CMFRI on Wednesday, he said such a measure would help in following a chain of green methods — right from capturing to marketing — to get better market and prices for marine ornamental fishes. The green certification guidelines could be drawn on the lines of ones drawn for freshwater ornamental fish breeding so as to reduce captive breeding of wild marine ornamental fishes and stop dependence on wild collection. He suggested that the Marine Aquarium Council’s guidelines for wild collection could be modified to suit Indian conditions.

Mr. Gopalakrishnan said a growing interest in aquarium fishes had resulted in a steady increase in the ornamental fish trade globally with Singapore being the hub. The global ornamental fish trade had a turnover of $7.5 billion, registering an annual growth of eight per cent.

The trade offered immense scope for development in India. But, unfortunately, India’s share in global trade, despite having very attractive and highly diverse species, was less than one per cent. The total marine exports from India had touched Rs.19,500 crore last year, but the share of ornamental fishes stood at a paltry Rs.6.5 crore, he said, adding 90 per cent of the exported fishes were caught in the wild. “Quality, quantity and sustainability alone will help the trade to prosper in the country,” he said.

The training programme would help to propagate marine ornamental fish breeding as an alternative livelihood for fisherfolk, he added.

G. Gopakumar, Scientist in-charge, Mandapam CMFRI, said the Centre had developed breeding and hatching technologies for 16 species that commanded international demand. “This is a big achievement but the only hurdle is that the trade is variety-oriented and it is not easy to develop technology for some of the other species,” he said.

K. Eswaran, Principal Scientist, Marine Algal Research Station, was present.