The Department of Fisheries would establish a fish processing centre at Nagore soon under Public Private Partnership mode on Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer (DBFOT) basis.
It carried out the tender process for letting 2.4 acres of land identified for the purpose on a 30-year-lease during November-December last year. It has engaged the services of Tamil Nadu Urban Infrastructure Financial Services Limited (TNUIFSL) for taking the project forward.
The project envisages developing infrastructure facilities like construction, operation and maintenance of fish processing park and cold storages.
The site, six km away from Nagapattinam, is near East Coast Road. But it will take considerable time as the Department of Fisheries will issue the letter of allotment only.
The allottee has to get approvals from Custom authorities, Chief Controller of Explosives, State Pollution Control Board, Environment and Forest Department and other statutory clearances as required under the various Acts at his/ her own cost.
Fish will be processed in hygienic conditions and value-added products will be sold to potential markets within the State as well as to export markets. Thereby, losses to fishermen caused by the compulsion to sell at prices fixed by middlemen would be eliminated. Thousands of fishermen will benefit as the prices will improve.
The project is expected to gain momentum soon, Joint Director of Fisheries Department, Nagapattinam, Amal Raj Xavier, said.
The centre will handle a mix of chilled fish, frozen fish and shrimp. Based on the availability of fish catch in Nagapattinam, stakeholder consultation meeting and site analysis were carried out by the Department of Fisheries in recent years. The centre will have a capacity to annually procure 4,134 MT tonnes of marine fish and 827 MT of shrimp to produce the proposed product lines of 2,150 MT of chilled fish, 868 MT of frozen fish and 414 MT of frozen shrimp, the analysis states.
The ₹ 22.87 crore project will encompass block ice plant, ice store, chilling plant (fish), air blast freezer, de-scaler, mincer, automatic burger and frozen store.
The Department of Fisheries has projected direct employment of 65 and indirect employment of 200 through the fish centre. “We will have a option of selling our catch at the park at better prices instead of remaining struck in the financial clutches of middlemen,” Vadivel, a fisherman of Arcottuthurai said.
