Tuna exports from Visakhapatnam will get a major fillip with the introduction of airlifting facility to Singapore shortly.
Marine Product Export Development Authority Chairman Leena Nair told The Hindu on Saturday that Visakhapatnam was poised to find a prominent place in tuna exports to Japan and the United States.
She said once tuna consignments reach Singapore by Silk Air, it would be convenient for them to reach international markets. MPEDA is training the mechanised boat and trawler operators which diversified into tuna long-lining on safe and hygienic handling. Tuna, a highly migratory species, is most sought-after when it is flown live as landing centres like Vizag do not have processing and value addition facilities. She indicated that MPEDA would help in a big way in setting up required facilities in Visakhapatnam to make it a major tuna export hub.
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MPEDA gives subsidy for tuna long-lining. With shrimp-centric deep-sea fishing causing dwindling number of the ‘prized catch,’the Centre launched several initiatives to popularise diversification into tuna fishing.
About 200 mechanised boats and 50 trawlers are now into tuna fishing from here. “We want chilling, processing and other facilities to be developed in the city with good air connectivity,” said Y.G.K Murti, president of Association of Indian Fishery Industry. He said proper encouragement to tuna catching would help double seafood export turnover from $5 billion to $10 billion by 2020. For want of air-lifting, tuna captured by local fishermen and others are being bought by middlemen from Kochi and Chennai at a lower price. “They give us around Rs.100 to Rs.200 per kg depending on the size of tuna fish. Once it is air-lifted, we can get somewhere around Rs.500 per kg,” an exporter said.