MPEDA keen to promote mud crab hatcheries in coastal districts

Its incubation centre produces 1.4 million seeds of mud crab per annum for supply to farmers

The MPEDA’s (Marine Products Export Development Authority) Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Aquaculture (RGCA) has announced its readiness to transfer technology for setting up mud crab hatcheries in coastal districts of Tamil Nadu and other States for production and export of the seafood delicacy in global markets, especially in South East Asia.

MPEDA-RGCA’s mud crab hatchery technology, the one-of-its-kind in the country, has been granted patent by the Controller General of Patent, Design and Trade Marks, till 2030. “Mud crab is a potential candidate species for commercial level aquaculture. We are promoting it as a targeted fishery with high price value,” K. S. Srinivas, Chairman, Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) and president of RGCA, said.

“We are also providing crab-instars (baby crab) to the farmers at just the production cost, as an incentive for mud crab farming in a big way. Significantly, it has huge potential to diversify the brackish water aquaculture as mud crab farming is the best option in defunct shrimp farms,” Mr. Srinivas said.

Tamil Nadu is centric to freshwater carp production besides shrimp aquaculture in brackish water area. It has no dearth of brackish water ponds which are suitable for mud crab culture. Farmers in the State have now taken it up in coastal areas and mangrove waterbodies. Some of these areas are Muthupetttai, Killai, Pichavaram and Pulikat lake.

Export hub

According to Kandan, Project Director at RGCA, Tamil Nadu is the hub for live mud crab export, mainly to South East Asian countries such as Singapore and Malaysia, besides the Middle East, while crab meat is a delicacy in USA and Europe. From Chennai port alone, around two tonnes of live mud crab are exported every day, he said.

As MPEDA’s Aquaculture Technology Incubation Centre headquartered in Mayiladuthurai, RGCA is currently producing 1.4 million seeds of mud crab per annum for supply to farmers in various States.

Mr. Srinivas said that MPEDA has financial assistance schemes for setting up live/frozen handling centres and value addition.“It also supports the exporters for the live mud crab export besides value added products, such as soft shell crab and crab meat,” he added.

MPEDA has been organising virtual Buyer-Seller meets in all the major markets abroad to connect the Indian exporters to potential buyers. It promotes Indian seafood through commercials on international TV channels and social media platforms, Mr. Srinivas said.

Mud crab commands the highest price when it is exported as whole in live condition or as crab meat in frozen condition. In case of shrimps, the value increases on the basis of the value addition process it undergoes. Mud crab fetches high value on exports with minimum investment whereas shrimps require high-end value addition to fetch higher value, he said.

“We have taken initiatives with the Central government’s National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB) to provide financial assistance to entrepreneurs for setting up mud crab hatcheries in India,” the MPEDA chairman said.