Locating the tuna habitat and helping agencies concerned to evolve suitable tuna fishing methods for Lakshadweep are among the ongoing projects undertaken by the Fishery Survey of India (FSI), a government nodal agency for carrying out survey and assessment of marine fishery resources. The Kochi wing of the FSI is engaged in assisting the task being monitored by the Mumbai centre.
A satellite remote sensing project being coordinated by the FSI is intended to gather information on physiology, feeding behaviour, environmental properties, and catchability of tuna. The project, costing over Rs.70 lakh, is undertaken by the Space Application Centre, Ahmadabad. The project is scheduled for completion by March 2012.
Another key project pertains to the value chain on oceanic tuna fisheries in the Lakshadweep Sea. The project aims at evolving effective fishing methods and policies for the Lakshadweep Sea with a view to increasing and sustaining production of oceanic tunas and related resources by assessing the status and health of the stocks and ecosystems. It also intends to develop technologies on hygienic and improved handling, processing, and packaging apart from securing market intelligence on domestic and overseas market.
Food safety
The new fishing and processing technologies and marketing strategies are expected to help the stakeholders to enhance their efficiency and socio-economic status and to ensure seafood safety and health assurance to the consumers. The project is being executed in association with the Kochi-based entities of the Marine Products Export Development Authority, Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) and the Central Institute of Fisheries Technology (CIFT), as well as the Lakshadweep Fisheries Department.
The projects form part of the Indian efforts to tap the tuna fishing sources. Oceanic tuna fishery by several countries is flourishing in the Indian Ocean and some of the coastal nations are also increasingly exploiting the tuna stocks, according to FSI sources.
The exploratory surveys conducted by the FSI have revealed the occurrence of yellowfin tuna and big eye tuna in different regions of the Indian exclusive economic zone (EEZ) including the waters around the Andaman and Nicobar and Lakshadweep groups of islands. The FSI has created a sound database on distribution, availability, seasonal variation and migratory pattern of the large pelagic tuna stocks in the Indian EEZ. Information on stocks in adjoining high seas is also being gathered. With the induction of a few vessels, specially designed to catch tuna, the FSI has been playing a catalytic role in promoting the export of Sashimi grade tuna to foreign countries.
