New Letter MPEDA Dec 2011...The first India International Seafood Show was held in 1973 at Mumbai. Later the shows were also organized in various cities like Kochi, Chennai, Bangalore,

MPEDA Newsletter • December 2011 | 37

M P E D ANEWSLETTER

Editorial Board

Marketing News

India International Seafood Show – 2012: Registration in full swing ............ 1

Shrimp Market - December 2011 ........................................................................... 2

Focus Area

Fishery related activities in the major fishing harbours of Kerala .................... 4

NETFISH provides trolleys at Puthiyappa fishing harbour .............................. 9

RGCA work published in Internationally Accredited Journal - GENE ........ 10

Workshop on Shrimp Pathology organized by Rajiv Gandhi Centre forAquaculture at Sirkali, Tamil Nadu ...................................................................... 10

MPEDA funds seminar on Organic Aquaculture in India InternationalFood and Agri Expo 2011 ..................................................................................... 13

One-day farmer’s meet on “Organic Shrimp Farming” at Matia,North 24 Paragnas ................................................................................................... 15

Quality Front

Japanese Study Team visits India .......................................................................... 17

HACCP (Basic) Training Programme organised by MPEDAat Bhubaneswar ........................................................................................................ 18

5th Meeting of ISO/TC - 234 on ‘Fisheries & Aquaculture TechnicalCommittee’ held at Boulogne Sur Mer, France ............................................... 19

Aquaculture Scene

Training Programme on “Eco-friendly and sustainable shrimpfarming, better management practices and aquaculturediversification” by MPEDA, RC, Panvel ............................................................. 21

MPEDA Regional Centre, Panvel Organizes Campaignagainst use of Antibiotic in Aquaculture ............................................................ 22

Training Programme on Mud Crab Farming by MPEDA, RC,Bhubaneswar in Ganjam District ......................................................................... 23

News Spectrum ...............................................................................................26

Contents

Vol. XX No. 12 December 2011

Shri N RameshDirector (M)Shri P MohanasundaramDirectorShri B SreekumarSecretarySmt. K M VeenaJt. Director (Dev.)Shri Thampi Sam RajJoint Director (Trng)Shri K N Vimal KumarJoint Director (QC)Dr. Al. MuthuramanDeputy Director (Soc)

EditorDr. Ram Mohan M KDeputy Director (P&MP)[email protected]. in

Assistant EditorShri S Bhaskaran [email protected]

Printed and Published by:Shri B SreekumarSecretary,MPEDA, Kochi - 36Printed at Amarakerala Industries,Kochi -18

The Marine Products ExportDevelopment Authority(Ministry of Commerce &.Industry, Govt. of India)MPEDA House, Panampilly Avenue,Kochi - 682 036.Telephone : 91-484-2311979Fax: 91-484-2313361E-mail: [email protected]: http://www.mpeda.com


MARKETING NEWS

India International Seafood Show – 2012:Registration in full swing

The Marine Products ExportDevelopment Authority (MPEDA) inassociation with the Seafood ExportersAssociation of India (SEAI) isorganizing the 18th India InternationalSeafood Show (IISS) at Chennai TradeCentre, Chennai, Tamil Nadu from 29th

February to 2nd March 2012.

The India International SeafoodShow-2012 comes at a time when theMarine Products Export DevelopmentAuthority (MPEDA), the nodal agencyof Government of India for marineproduct exports and the SeafoodExporters Association of India(SEAI), which represents all theseafood exporters of India, celebratetheir 40th year of service to the sector.MPEDA and SEAI are the jointorganizers of IISS-2012.

India International Seafood Show,one of the largest seafood fairs in Asiais a biennial event which provides acommon forum for the seafoodprocessors, exporters, importers,processing machinery/equipmentmanufacturers, suppliers of inputs,other allied industries, investors,bankers, technicians, and technocratsfrom processing plants and qualitycontrol departments, policy makersfrom State and Central Government,Fishery Institutions, ResearchOrganisations, trade promotionbodies, and shipping lines to interact.

As a part of this event, there willbe an exhibition in which more than200 stalls spread over 4400 sq. m. spaceshall be at the disposal for displayingvide variety of products, machineries,

inputs etc.

More than 1000delegates are expectedto be a part of thisevent. Technicalsessions beingarranged inconjunction with theShow has beenfinalized. There is an overwhelmingresponse to participate in the Show asexhibitors and delegates from China,Japan and other South East Asiancountries besides exhibitors fromMiddleeast and Europe. There are anumber of sponsorship opportuniesalso for the Show as detailed in theShow website, www.indianseafoodexpo. com.

Stall /Delegate registration fee

Registered Members ofMPEDA or SEAI

DelegateStall (3m x 3m)

IndianRs.

75000

Overseas$

1750

IndianRs.

10000

Overseas$

250

StallRs.

50000

DelegatesRs.

6000

Page (all in colour) Domestic (Rs.) Overseas (US $)Back Cover 50000 1200Front inside cover 40000 1000Back inside cover 40000 1000Divider page 35000 850Regular inside page 10000 250

ADVERTISEMENT TARIFF -SOUVENIR / FAIR CATALOGUE

The ‘Project Launcher Area’ in theExhibition Hall is also available for30-minute and one-hour time slots forcompanies to make marketingpresentations and demonstrations ontheir products and services. The callfor advertisements in Show Catalogueand Show Souvenir also evoked agenerous response.

2 | MPEDA Newsletter • December 2011

Shrimp Market - December 2011

The shrimp market is on the rise despite the difficult global economic situation

During the first half of 2011 theglobal shrimp market remainedpositive despite lower supply andstrong prices worldwide. In Japan,demand for processed shrimp hasbeen higher after the earthquake andtsunami, while demand for raw frozenshrimp dipped. Processed shrimpimports were also higher in othermarkets such as the EU and USA,confirming the positive trend forvalue added-shrimp.

In Thailand, the seasonal harvestof vannamei has been delayed as

result of the severe floods, while inViet Nam’s Mekong delta black tigerproduction was almost wiped out bydisease leading to a shortage of rawmaterial and pushing prices up.

India also increased vannameiaquaculture significantly in thesouthern areas, with a consequentdecline in black tiger shrimpproduction. The wild caught Karikadiand poovalaan shrimp season wasdisappointing and packers faceddifficulties in meeting agreedcommitments.

In Japan, the post-tsunami shrimpmarket started to recover in June andthe trend persisted into July andAugust. Sales of processed and semiprocessed shrimp increased but rawshell-on shrimp sales declined. Imports of raw frozen shrimp fellduring the period January-July 2011 butincreased by 8% for processed shrimp.

The Asian shrimp producingcountries are facing a number ofdifferent challenges. After the severeflooding in Thailand and the typhoonthat hit Viet Nam, as well as thedisappointing landings of small wildshrimp from India, the shrimp supplychain will be affected in the nearfuture. Given this scenario, prices areexpected to remain firm. The Thaishrimp industry revised down thisyear’s export growth forecast to 5%(from an earlier estimation of 8%).

China’s exports increased thisyear by nearly 20% during the January-June period compared with the sameperiod in 2010. Imports of all typesof shrimp increased to 178 704 tonnesagainst 149 760 tonnes in 2010.

In the USA, domestic producersare having difficulties in selling theirproducts as imported supplies ofshell-on shrimp improved as well as

MARKETING NEWSGlimpse into past events

The first India InternationalSeafood Show was held in 1973 atMumbai. Later the shows were alsoorganized in various cities likeKochi, Chennai, Bangalore, Delhi,Visakhapatnam, Goa, Kolkata ,Bhubaneswar etc. , which hadattracted large number of seafoodtrading people enabling them to findout suitable means for strengtheningthe seafood trade for mutualbenefits.

The17th edition of IISS atChennai in 2010 had a revamped get-up witnessing a multi-fold increase inparticipation in terms of stalls,delegates and visitors.

It is also a practice to distributeawards to top seafood exporters of thecountry in various cataegories and alsoto honour important buyers andveterens of Indian seafood industry.The shows also have technical sessionsthat benefit the sector with knowledgeupdates on processing, marketing and

associated activities.

The organizing team has gearedup for the event in all possible ways.The IISS-2012 has also got wide mediacoverage, attracting more exhibitorsand delegates to it. Dear readers, youare encouraged to be a part of thismega event were the stakeholdersassociated with the sector will beflocking into establish businesscontacts that can lead to sustainablepersonal bonding resulting inprosperity of the partners.


over white spot disease. This couldcause a decline in the availability ofpopular larger sizes.

In Europe, trading activitiesslowed down in the second quarter ofthe year, while demand remainedstrong in other major markets such asthe USA. Despite the crisis in theEurozone, shrimp imports into the EUincreased during the first half of 2011and totalled 386 000 tonnes. Importvolumes of raw frozen shrimpincreased also by 10% during thisperiod, with Ecuador, India,Greenland, Argentina and China beingthe main suppliers of this category.

MARKETING NEWS

ADVERTISE IN THE SPECIAL JANUARY ISSUE OFMPEDA NEWSLETTER TO BE RELEASED ON

THE OCCASION OF IISS-2012

A special rate exclusively for advertising in this issue is given below:Inside full page (Colour) : Rs. 3,000/-Inside half page (Colour) : Rs. 1,500/-

� The matter for advertisement shall be provided by the advertiser in TIF or PDF format in CMYK mode� Print Area is 23 x 17.5 cm for full page and 11.5 x 17.5 cm OR 23 x 8.5 cm for half page

The payment could be sent by Demand Draft favouring ‘Secretary, MPEDA’ payable at Kochi, Kerala alongwithyour artwork CD to:

Deputy Director (P&MP) & Editor,MPEDA Newsletter

MPEDA House, Panampilly Avenue, KOCHI – 682 036Tel: +91-484-2321722 / 2311979 (Extn.: 400) Telefax: 91-484-2312812

E-mail: [email protected] / [email protected]

increased availability of shrimpproduction from Ecuador. In theperiod January to July, overall USimports increased by 2.1% comparedwith the same period of 2010.

Thailand continued to be themain supplier followed by Ecuadorand Indonesia. Total domesticlandings from January-Augustincreased by 65.7% compared withthe same period of 2010, but were stillbelow the high of 2009. Economicconditions are limiting furtherimprovement in demand.

In Mexico, farmers decided toharvest early because of concerns

Demand from major EU countriesremained strong with the exception ofFrance where a decrease of 7.5% wasseen. Imports by Spain, UK, Italy andGermany grew by 33.5%, 31.6%, 7.8%and 4.6% respectively during theJanuary to June period.

Retailers are procuring productsfor the December/January sales,increasing the seasonal demand forshrimp. The market is still pricesensitive, which will favour sales ofvannamei and other shrimp speciesthat are in the lower priced categories.

Source : Globefish.org

MPEDA in association withSEAI is organizing 18th IndiaInternational Seafood Show (IISS2012) during 29th Feb – 2nd March,2012 at Chennai Trade Centre,Chennai. The event will showcase theinfinite promise and potential of theIndian Export Industry. The 3-dayevent comprises an Exhibitionshowcasing various machinery/equipments/products in the seafood

processing/packaging industry as wellas a Technical Session, being handledby International Experts specialised insubject matters. More than 200exhibitors and over 1000 national /international delegates are attendingthe event.

A special January 2012 issue ofMPEDA Newsletter is being broughtout on this occasion and copies of the

same shall be widely circulated amongthe participants of IISS 2012.Seafood exporters/manufacturers ofmachinery and equipments/packaging industry/input suppliersetc. can avail this opportunity torelease advertisements in the insidepages of the MPEDA News letter topopularize their products to a viderange of stakeholders.


FOCUS AREAFishery related activities in the major fishingharbours of KeralaJoice V Thomas, Deepu A V and Afsal V V, NETFISH, MPEDA

Introduction:Fishing harbours play an

important role in the quality chain ofseafood production as it is the majorarea where fish is handled after landingon shore and mostly without muchcare as seen in seafood factories andprocessing centers. There are 10 majorfishing harbours in Kerala, another 8are being constructed and 13 newproposals have been sanctioned by thegovernment of Kerala. Though theseharbours are reportedly coming underthe Department of fisheries, HarbourEngineering Department (HED)controls most of them and they carryout major engineering works. Thecrafts and gears used to capture fishviz trawlers, gill netters and purseseiners are more or less similar in thesefishing harbours, however the fisheryrelated activities are found to bedifferent from harbour to harbour.This article is an attempt to give aninsight into various fisheries relatedactivities in 5 major harbours ofKerala.

Fishing harboursThe major fishing harbours

such as Beypore and Puthiyappa innorthern Kerala, Munambam andThoppumpady in the central Keralaand Sakthikulangara in the southernKerala were selected for the study.Fishery related activities pertaining toeach harbour were examined andcompared. The number and types offishing vessels operating from theselected harbours are given in Table 1.

It is noticed that a series ofactivities are taking place in fishing

Table 1: Details of fishing vessels operating from the selected fishing harbours

S. Name of the District No of vessels Size ofNo harbour the vessels

(OAL in feet)

1 Beypore Kozhikode Trawler- 50 60Trawler- 150 30-35Traditional-70 <60

2 Puthiyappa Kozhikode Trawler-40 60Trawler-200 30-35Purse seine-100 60-80Gill net-60 28-33Traditional -50 <60

3 Thoppumpady Ernakulam Trawler- 350 <35Gill- 300 <35Purse seine -80Traditional-150 <60

4 Munambum Ernakulam Trawler-400 <45Gill net -300 <35Gillnet small >20Traditional-100 <60

5 Sakthikulangara Kollam Trawler- 1170 nos <35

harbours after the landing of fish suchas the auction of the catch, packing &loading, transportation, preparation ofthe fishing vessels for the next voyage,etc. Even though quite a large numberof people are involved in theseactivities for their livelihood, it is quiteunfortunate to see that these activitieswere poorly documented by agenciesconcerned.

Activities in a harbourNormally in fishing harbours,

materials after landing will be sold byauction. For auctioning, the materialswill be displaced in crates if thequantity is less but will be displaced on

the raised platforms or on floor inheaps in the case of large quantity.There are certain set of people called“Auctioneers” who lead the auction bycalling the rate of the fish as per thedemand of buyers. There is noweighing of the material beforeauction but by approximation theauctioneer will start with a rate and thebuyer agents can increase the rate bybidding until the highest bidder takesthe material. In major fishing harbourslike Thoppumpady and Munambam,there are sub auctioneers appointed bymajor auctioneers to do auction duringpeak hours and in major season. After


auction, the material willbe weighed and packed incrates with ice by workers,the major work force inthe harbour, and loadedinto the trucks fortransporting to thevarious destinations likepeeling sheds, seafoodfactories, markets, etc.The wage of auctioneerwill be given by the boatowner and the workerswill be taking their sharefrom the agent whoprocured the material inauction.

AuctioneersThe number of

auctioneers varies fromharbour to harbour andnormally their number fallwithin the range of 20 to 100 basedon the size and business of theharbour. In all harbours, theseauctioneers have unions but withoutany link with political parties. Theauction time of each harbour is fixedin advance by the auctioneers in dueconsultation with workers and boatowners based on the time of landingand also considering the space availablein the auction hall, etc. In big harboursthe auction starts at early morning andlasts till evening. The time of auctionfixed in the major five harbours inKerala are given in Table 2. Materialswill be displaced in the auction hall forunderstanding its quantity and quality.Auction will be conducted at thespecified time by the concernedauctioneer. The wage of the auctioneeris given on commission basis exceptin Sakthikulangara harbour where onerupee for every kilograms of materialis given to the auctioneer and in otherharbours about 1-4% of the totalrevenue is provided based on thematerial and demand. As mentionedelsewhere above, in major harbours like

Thoppumpady and Munambum therewill be sub auctioneers who carry outthe auction for major auctioneers andthe wages of them will be given by themajor auctioneer. Generally, subauctioneers will be given 0.5-3 % ofthe total revenue by major auctioneers.In addition to the sub auctioneers,there will be helpers for majorauctioneer who will also assist the

1

2

3

4

5

Beypore

Puthiyappa

Thoppumpady

Munambam

Sakthikulangara

Round theclock

7-10 am&12.30pm -

3pm

5.30am-8.30am

5.30 am -4pm

5.00am -9am

Round theclock

4.30am-7 am

3.30 am-5am

5.30 am-10am

Nil

Round theclock

Round theclock

Round theclock

Round theclock

Nil

Round theclock

7-10am12.30-

3pm

5.30-9am

Nil

Nil

4-5% of theamount of

catch

4% of theamount of

catch

4-6% of theamount of

catch

1-2% of thetotal amount

of catch

Rs.1/kg

S.No

Harbour

Trawlers

Time of auction

Gill netters Traditionalvessels

Purseseiners

Wagestructure

Table 2: Time of auction & wage structure in different harbours

major auctioneer in selling thematerials landed in less quantity andtheir wages will also be given by themajor auctioneer.

Buying agentsBuying agents are the people who

collect the materials in auction andtransport it to the processing and pre-processing units. They are known as

Auction of Cuttle fish at Munambam harbour

FOCUS AREA


factory agents and normally there is nounion for them. There will be around10-20 agents in each harbours. Theseagents are working on anunderstanding with the factory andthey will collect commission to thematerial they supply to the factories.With regard to the commission of theagents, there is no fixed rate formaterial; normally the commissionranged from 0.5 to 2.5 rupees perkilograms of materials supplied tofactories (Table 3). Agents procure thematerials from harbour as per therequirement of the factories and evencollect from other agents tooconsidering the demand of the factory.On certain occasions, agents mayarrange the material from other subagents and in this case the commissionwill be shared by them without anyintimation to the factory.

Table 3: Wage structure of Buyeragents in different harbours

Beypore Rs.0.5-2/kg

Puthiyappa Rs.0.5-2/kg

Thoppumpady Rs.0.6-1.5/kg

Munambam Rs.0.5-2/kg

Sakthikulangara Rs.2/kg forprawn andRs. 1/kg for fish

Loading and unloadingworkers

The loading and unloadingworkers are the major work force inharbours who controls the movementof material both inside and outside theharbours. They have unions associatedwith all major political parties in Kerala.Among these five harbours loadingcharge including packing and loadinginto the vehicles is same except inThoppumpady where an additionalcharge of Rs. 27 is taken for packing(Table 4). In Thoppumpady andMunambam harbours, workers takehigh wages when compared to other

three harbours where about 22-23rupees per box is charged for packing& loading. High value items likeshrimps and cuttle fish are treatedseparately in Munambam andThoppumpady harbours for which thecharge is taken according to weight andabout 1-1.5 rupees per kilogram ischarged in these harbours. InThoppumpady when fish is loadeddirectly into the trucks an amount ofRs. 6000- 8000 is charged per truckespecially in the case of fish which aretaken for ‘Surumi’ preparation ;mainlysmall sardines and threadfin breams aretaken in this manner. In Munambam,

threadfin breams ( Nemipterus species)are taken for Surumi preparation withloading charge of Rs. 0.87/kg. InBeypore, Munambam andThoppumpady harbour workersunload the materials from fishingvessels to the auction hall also. Thecharge for this is included in theloading and packing in the case of thefirst two harbours whereas inThoppumpady, it is charged anadditional 2-3 % of the total value ofthe material towards unloading charge.In Puthiyappa and Sakthikulangarafishermen themselves take the materialto the auction hall. In Munambum

Beypore 120-BMS, Rs.12-15/box Nil NilCITU and Box loadingSTU

Puthiyappa 60 –BMS Rs.10-15/box Nil Nilunion

Thoppumpady 350-CITU Rs. 23/box 2% for Rs. 27 /for fish trawlers box forRs. 1.45/kg 2.5 % for fishfor shrimps/ gillnettersCuttle fish 3% Purseand Squid seineRs. 6000-8000 for fishloading infull track

Munambam 250- CITU& Rs.22/box Rs. 15/ boxBMS for fish for unloading

Rs. 0.87 / fish fromkg for trucksNemipterusspeciesRs. 1.05/kgfor shrimps/cuttle fish

Sakthikulangara 50-AITUC Rs. 3-5/box Nil

HarbourNo. of

workers andunions

Packing &Loading Unloading Packing

Table 4: Wage structure of loading and unloading workers of differentharbours

FOCUS AREA


when trucks are coming from otherharbours with material during the lowlanding days by merchants, workerscharge Rs.15/box for unloading thematerials from trucks and this practiceis not seen in other four harbours.Unloading of ice in Sakthikulangaraharbour is also charged with Rs. 3 perblock of ice and in other harbours iceis supplied by ice supply team withspecific rate. This clearly indicates thateach harbour has separate and uniquesystems in practice and has differentwage structure too.

Ice supply teamThere are certain groups of people

in fishing harbours who are engaged inice supply in the crushed form.Normally there is no union for thisgroup except in Thoppumpady wherethey have separate union associated withone of the political parties in the state.In other harbours, they act as a separategroup of people engaged in the regularsupply of ice by bringing ice to theharbour from the nearby ice factories,crush it and supply to the boats as wellas to the auction hall. Among these five

A scene from Munambam fishing harbour

fishing harbours Beypore andThoppumpady harbours have icecrushers with conveyer attached, bywhich they can crush and supply icedirectly to the fish hold for which theycharge Rs 4 in Thoppumpady and Rs.7 in Beypore (Table 5). Whereas in other

1 Beypore 20 Rs.57 /blockRs.7 for crushingRs.3 /block for unloading from trucks

2 Puthiyappa 20 Rs. 60 /blockRs.3 /block for unloading from tucksRs.8-10 for crushing.

3 Thoppumpady 45 Rs. 50/blockRs. 4 for crushingRs.1.5-2.5/block for unloading ofice from vehicles

4 Munambam 30 Rs 55 /block

5 Sakthikulangara 3-5 45-50/blockRs.2 for crushing,Rs.3/block for ice

harbours they supply crushed ice inboxes. The rate of ice varies fromseason to season and normally it rangesfrom 50-60 per block and an amountof Rs. 4-7 is taken for crushing. Aseparate charge of 1.5-3 rupees is takenfor unloading the ice from vehicles.

Ice supplies to the fishingboatsWater supply

In all harbours exceptSakthikulangara, water is supplied bya separate set of people and there areno unions for this group except inThoppumpady as noticed in the caseof ice supply team. In Sakthikulangarswater is supplied by the diesel pumpon free of cost when the vessels fillthe fuel from the pump. InMunambam and Thoppumpady, thecharge is collected when the vesselsreturn from voyage and 1-6 % of theamount of catch is taken as the costof water supplied. Normally about500-1000 litres of water is taken infishing vessels and it varies dependingon the size of the fishing vessels and

S.No Harbour No of Ice supply & Chargepersons

Table 5: Details of ice suppliers and charges in different harbours

FOCUS AREA


the day of fishing planned (Table 6).In Thoppumpady, the water supplycharge is separate for different categoryvessels where 6 % of the total catch istaken from the purse seiners and 3 %is collected from the bottom trawlersand gill netters. The water supply teamwill arrange the potable water fromdifferent sources and brings in tankersfor supplying to the fishing vessels. InBeypore and Puthiyappa fishingharbours, the rate is fixed for per litreof water supplied whereas in Beyporeonly Rs.500 is charged for 5000 litresand in Puthiyappa an amount ofRs.300 is taken for 1000 liters.

Table 6: Details of freshwater supply in different harbours

1 Beypore 3 Rs.300 for 5000 litre

2 Puthiyappa 4 Tanker supply Rs.300 for 1000 litres

3 Thoppumpady 300 6% of the catch in purse seine3 % of the catch for trawlers andgill netters

4 Munambam 75 1% of the catch

5 Sakthikulangara Nil Will be given by diesel pumpon free of coast when takingoil from the pump

S.No Harbour No of Cost of Water & supply systempersons

Other groups: In addition to theabove mentioned groups of workersengaged in various activities in

to monitor the boats moored at theharbour with Rs.50 per boat as wage andweighing balance operators who areengaged in the weighing of material witha wage of Rs. 0.5 per kg of materialweighed. There may be some othergroups of workers also who areentrusted with minor activities/works inthe harbours but are not widely noticedand gets little attention.

Conclusion: A series of fisheryrelated activities are taking place in thevarious fishing harbours of the state. Theactivities and modus operandi of peoplewho are engaged in these practices arealso quite different from harbour toharbour. These systems in harbours arenot enforced or controlled by anyauthorities but are self evolved throughages.

harbours there are certain other groupsof workers like boats watchmen, whoare engaged by boat owners association

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FOCUS AREA


Availability of the basicinfrastructure facilities at fish landingsites along with proper awareness cancontribute towards increased supply ofquality fish products for export anddomestic consumption. NETFISH hasbeen organizing wide awarenesscampaigns during the last three yearsat Puthiyappa Harbour to upgrade thehygienic standards at the harbour andalso to ensure sustainable fishing. As apart of these campaigns and toencourage and ensure hygienichandling of fishes at harbours,NETFISH has provided ten bigtrolleys for the loading workers ofPuthiyappa harbour in a functionorganized on 30th November 2011 atPuthiyappa harbour.

These trolleys are capable to carry12 to 14 crates at a time and will be

NETFISH provides trolleys at Puthiyappa fishingharbour

highly useful for the transport of fishfrom boats to auction hall, ice fromvehicles to boats, auctioned fish tovehicles, etc. By using the trolleys it willbe easy for the workers to transportthe crates rather than dragging it alongthe floor or holding it by hand. Thedragging of crates filled with fish orice on floor has reported the qualitydegradation of the fish, damaging thefloor tiles or concrete as well as cratesand baskets, etc. The use of trolleyswill help to eliminate all these harmfulimpacts to a great extent. Workers andfishermen were also made aware of theadvantage of using these trolleys.

The trolleys were distributed byCouncilor, Shri V K Mohandasand NETFISH State Coordinator,Smt. Aliamma Kuriachan toShri Balakrishnan, Secretary ofHarbour Vikasanasamithi andShri Ramachandran, President ofBMS Union.

Handing Over the Trolleys to Workers

Trolleys distributed at Puthiyappa Harbour

FOCUS AREA


RGCA work published in InternationallyAccredited Journal - GENE

An original research work byRGCA team has been published inGENE, a high-impact InternationalJournal for Functional andEvolutionary Genomics byELSEVIER. The paper is entitled“Population genetic structure ofPenaeus monodon , in relation tomonsoon current patterns inSouthwest, East and Andaman coastalwaters of India” authored by AnupMandal, Divya Rao, DeepaKaruppaiah, AchamveetilGopalakrishnan, Jayagopal Pozhoth,Yohannan Chellamma Thampi SamRaj and Roger W Doyle (Ref: GeneVol. 491(2); 2012, p. 149–157). Thisis reportedly the first paper from Indiarelated to aquaculture / fisheries inthis journal that has an average impactfactor of 2.610 (Thompon Reuters,2011) in the last five years.

paral lel ingthe roughlycircular flowof surfacecurrents inthe Bay ofBengal. Significant heterozygotedeficiencies were noted in mostpopulation samples at most loci.Andaman Island sites showed thehighest diversity. Recognition of highgenetic diversity and distinctpopulation structuring of P. monodon inIndian seas has important implicationsfor future domestication of this speciesin India, for two reasons: identificationof the best wild founding stocks foraquaculture and, subsequently, thepotential impacts of release ofdomesticates to the wild, eitheraccidentally or deliberately (i.e. forstock enhancement).

FOCUS AREA

Abstract: The black tiger shrimp(Penaeus monodon), a commerciallyimportant penaeid species, is widelydistributed across the Indo-Pacificregion. Genetic diversity in P. monodoncollected from eight geographicalregions in Southwest, East andAndaman coastal waters of India(N=418) was investigated using 10polymorphic microsatellite loci.Average observed heterozygosity atsampled loci were high, ranging from0.643 (Coromandel Coast) to 0.753(South Andaman). Pairwise FST(ranged from 0.005 to 0.078) and RST(ranged from 0.005 to 0.171) estimatesrevealed surprisingly strong andstatistically significant genetic structureamong tiger shrimp populations. Asynthetic map generated bymultidimensional scaling shows anapparent cline in allele frequencies

Workshop on Shrimp Pathology organized byRajiv Gandhi Centre for Aquaculture at Sirkali, Tamil Nadu

A Workshop on Shrimp Pathologywas organized by Rajiv Gandhi Centrefor Aquaculture (RGCA), the Researchand Development arm of MarineProducts Export DevelopmentAuthority (MPEDA), under Ministry ofCommerce & Industry, Govt. of Indiaat its Technology Transfer and TrainingComplex at Sirkali, NagapattinamDistrict, Tamil Nadu between 14th and19th November 2011. This workshopwas organized by RGCA incollaboration with The University ofArizona, USA.

The workshop got underway aftera brief inaugural function on the 14th

November. Ms. Leena Nair IAS,Chairman MPEDA & President

Ms. Leena Nair IAS, Chairman, MPEDA & President, RGCA inaugurates theShrimp Pathology Workshop


FOCUS AREARGCA inaugurated the workshop. Theprogramme was presided over byDr. T Balasubramaniyan, Dean of theCentre for Advance Studies in MarineBiology, Annamalai University,Parangipettai and a member of theScientific Advisory Committee ofRGCA. Ms. Asia Mariam, DistrictRevenue Officer, Nagapattinam, Dr.Carlos Pantoja and Dr. Linda Nunanfrom the Aquaculture PathologyLaboratory, University of Arizona andShri Y C Thampi Sam Raj, ProjectDirector RGCA were the otherprominent speakers at the function.

In her inaugural address,Chairman MPEDA, observed that thecountry had moved forward from the“start up era” where wild seeds wereused for shrimp farming to the“hatchery era” where brood stockcollected from the wild for seedproduction and had now entered the“breeding era” where it was no longerdependent fully on the wild to meetthe future Shrimp broodstockrequirements, as that would be met bythe Specific Pathogen Free (SPF)domesticated brood stocks beingdeveloped in the country itself.

The Chairman also observed thatShrimp culture has been at crossroadsin India since the year 1995 due tofrequent occurrence of disease thatcaused heavy losses to the farmers and

decline in the annual exports ofprocessed Shrimp from India. Shrimpaquaculture industry in the country wasparticularly lacking clarity on diseaseidentification, diagnosis and controlmethods. Farmers, Hatchery operatorsand other Aquaculture professionalshad seldom looked beyond “WhiteSpot disease” towards other existingand emerging diseases that also causewidespread losses. It was time to lookat other major shrimp diseases,prevalent across the world, and learntheir diagnostic, prevention andcontrol methods to overcome and tobe vigilant to prevent occurrence ofnew diseases in the country. Chairmanadded that it was in this context thatRGCA decided to get the services of

the best scientists in the world in thefield and organize a workshop onShrimp Pathology for the benefit ofAquaculture professionals in thecountry and the industry as a whole.

RGCA organized this workshopin collaboration with world renownedAquaculture Pathology Lab (APL)popularly known as Dr. Lightner’s Labof University of Arizona, USA. Theworkshop was conducted in twomodules namely ‘Basic ShrimpPathology’ for two days from 14th to15th Nov, 2011 and an ‘AdvancedShrimp Pathology’ workshop as acontinuation of the basic course upto19th Nov, 2011.

A total of 63 candidates took partin the Basic module and 22 participantsamong them continued to completethe Advanced module. Participantsfrom all over the country representingthe ICAR institutes, state/central Govtdepartments, Private Labs, Hatcheryoperators, Universities etc. attended theWorkshop. The work shop comprisedboth theory and practical sessions onShrimp pathology that were conductedby Dr. Carlos R. Pantoja and Dr. LindaNunan, from Dr. Lightner’s Lab,Arizona.

Dr. C Carlos started the course byproviding introduction to gross

Shri Thampi Sam Raj, Project Director, RGCA delivering the welcome address

Participants in the Seminar


anatomy and normal histology ofpenaeid shrimp, followed by lectureson major types of disease affectingshrimp, disease diagnostic anddetection methods and the equipmentsused for these purposes. The Grosssigns and pathology of major shrimpdiseases including the OIE (WorldOrganization of Animal Health) listeddiseases were covered in detail.

The faculty also explained theefficiency of PCR based diagnosis ofshrimp pathogens, particularly WSSVand IHHNV (Infectious Hypodermal& Hematopoietic Necrosis) whichwere most widely seen in India. Dr.Carlos also explained the prevalence ofan integrated form of the IHHNV inpenaeid shrimp genome which wasnon infectious and the specific PCRtests to differentiate between infectious

and non-infectious one. The facultiesreviewed the use of gene probes andISH (In Situ Hybridization) techniquefor detection of pathogens.

The participants got informationon target tissues for major pathogensand the importance of correct sampleand sampling methods for both PCRand histological analyses.

The expert pathologists alsodescribed the use of faecal samples fordetection of certain pathogens such asN H P - B ( N e c r o t i z i n gHepatopancreatic–bacteria) and HPV(Hepatopancreatic Parvo Virus). Thereview on molecular diagnosis startedwith the basic properties of nucleicacids, their classification and functions.The faculty discussed in detail aboutthe use of PCR, RT-PCR and NestedPCR for detection of viruses and

Views of workshop

Dr. Carlos Pantoja, Faculty Member of the University of Arizona, delivering the felicitation

bacteria and use of histopathologicaltechniques for disease diagnosis.

The practical laboratory sessionson PCR were conducted by Dr Linda.The participants were providedopportunity to carrying out thedetection of WSSV as an example forDNA virus and detection of TSV asan example for RNA virus from thepositive shrimp tissue. The participantsalso got hands on experience inextraction of total DNA and RNAusing extraction kits and theirquantitative measurements usingspectrophotometer.

Dr. Carlos taught the participantsthe pathology of major shrimpdiseases and its diagnosis byhistological methods. Each participantindividually got trained on how toobserve histological sections, how tolocate organ showing signs of diseases.The OIE listed Pathogens such asTaura syndrome (TSV), White Spotdisease (WSSV/WSV), Yellow Headdisease (YHV/GAV), InfectiousHypodermal & HematopoieticNecrosis (IHHNV), InfectiousMyonecrosis (IMNV) and White Taildisease (MrNV) (listed May 2007) anddelisted, NHP-B - (Bacterial disease ofshrimp), BP(Baculovirus Penaei) –MBV (Monodon Baculovirus) weretaught in detail.

Information provided by thefaculty on SPF shrimp brought clarity

FOCUS AREA


Participants with the faculty members from University of Arizona, USA

about SPF shrimp and high healthshrimp in the mind of the participants.Lecture on Biosecurity in Shrimpfarm/hatchery were very relevant andenlightening to the participants.

The workshop ended with anevaluation test for the participantsconducted by Dr. Carlos. All theparticipants were praised by the expertsfrom USA for obtaining excellent scores.On the whole, the workshop was highlyinteractive with the participants posing

several queries and discussing manythought provoking ideas.

During the valedictory functionof the workshop, participantsrepresenting PCR lab, Hatcheries,ICAR institutes as well as Universitiesexpressed their total satisfaction on theway the workshop had been organized.They extended their thanks on behalfof the aquaculture Industry for givingsuch an exposure on Shrimp Pathologyat the right time and appreciated the

efforts of Rajiv Gandhi Centre forAquaculture for organizing such aworkshop in India for the benefit ofthe aquaculture people.

Dr. Carlos R. Pantoja andDr. Linda Nunan also expressed theirsatisfaction after evaluating theparticipants and the way theparticipants tried to learn new thingsall through the workshop. The workshop concluded with distribution ofcertificates to the participants.

MPEDA funds seminar on Organic Aquaculture inIndia International Food and Agri Expo 2011

The Foundation for OrganicAgriculture & Rural Developmentorganized a seminar on “OrganicAquaculture” on 27th November 2011with the financial and technical supportof MPEDA in connection with theIndia International Food and AgriExpo 2011 and India Organic Fairconducted at Gokulam conventioncentre, Kaloor, Cochin from 26-28th

November 2011. The Expo and Tradefair were organized by the Foundationin association with the National Bankfor Agriculture and RuralDevelopment (NABARD).

Shri Thampi Sam Raj, Joint Director (Trg.), MPEDA inaugurates the Seminar in thepresence of Dr. A S Upadhyaya, Jt. Director and Shri P N Vinod, Asst. Director(L)

FOCUS AREA


FOCUS AREAThe organic aquaculture is a new

initiative in the country promoted inview of the increasing demand fororganic seafood in the global market.It is also considered as a sustainableand eco-friendly activity. Hence,MPEDA has been promoting organicaquaculture in India through its IndiaOrganic Aquaculture Project (IOAP).The major objective of the Seminarwas to lay down a platform for activeinteraction between the technicalexperts and the stakeholders onorganic aquaculture and for conveyingdevelopmental and promotionalschemes available from MPEDA fordevelopment of organic aquaculture,the current activities of IOAP etc.

The programme started at 10:30am with the welcome speech of Mr.Sreekumar M S, Chief ExecutiveOfficer, Foundation for OrganicAgriculture & Rural Development. Mr.Y C Thampi Sam Raj, Joint Director(Training), Marine Product ExportDevelopment Authority, inauguratedthe seminar. In his inaugural address,

Mr. Thampi Sam Raj detailed theopportunities that can be offered byIndian Aquaculture sector and theimportance of Organic Aquaculture.He also explained that the standardsbrought out for organic farmingshould be adhered strictly to achievethe basic objective of organic farming.He assured the supply of gooddomesticated brood stocks fromRGCA hatchery to comply with the

A view of the Seminar

production protocol of brood stockswith the organic standards. He alsoappreciated the efforts of organicfarmers and other stakeholders whoare a part of IOAP.

Dr. A S Upadhyaya, JointDirector, MPEDA, in his key noteaddress pointed out the major benefitsof organic aquaculture in relation withthe environment.

The technical sessions hadpresentations by Mr. Ashish Jasuja,Business Development Manger, WABTrading International, Mr. P N Vinod,Assistant Director, MPEDA andMr. S. Syamkumar, Inspection andCertification officer, INDOCERT. Mr.Joseph Korah, a leading and successfulaquaculture farmer from the KuttanadOrganic Scampi Farming Group wasthe speaker from the farmer’s side, whoexplained about his tryst with organicfarming and his experience both inorganic and non-organic aquaculturesystems.

A total 75 participants attendedthe seminar. After the technical session,there was an interactive session thatfacilitated open discussion on variousqueries and suggestions. The seminarwas concluded with the vote of thanksby Mr.Jithin Thomas, ProgrammeManager, Foundation for OrganicAgriculture and Rural Development.

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FOCUS AREA

One-day farmer’s meet on “Organic Shrimp Farming”at Matia, North 24 Paragnas

With the growing concern overhealth and environment, the demandfor organic products is increasing inthe global market. It is estimated thatthe global demand for organic foodproducts was about 50 billion USdollars during 2008. Fish is consideredas a safe and healthy food and doublesafety is ensured by the organic fishproducts. Organic aquacultureessentially protect the health ofconsumers by reducing the overallexposure to harmful chemicals andantibiotics. It is an accepted methodof production in a sustainable and eco-friendly manner. In response to thisMPEDA has identified organicaquaculture as one of the potentialthrust areas for development. In orderto implement this programme,MPEDA initiated the “India OrganicAquaculture Project” (IOAP) during 2007and operates the programme in thecoastal states of the country.

In West Bengal, traditional shrimpaquaculture production increased from12,500 Metric tones during theyear1990-91 to 40,500 metric tones in

Shri A K Sarkar, International Manager, ICS WAB Trading International speaks duringthe meet. Others from (L-R) Shri P N Vinod, Asst. Director-IOAP, MPEDA,

Shri B K Mondal, Dy. Director of Fisheries, Govt. of West Bengal andDr. A D Deo, Sr. Scientist, CIBA.

2009-10 due to technologicaladvancements in farming practices.The traditional shrimp farmingtechniques in West Bengal, based ontidal influence, is practised in the lowlying coastal areas of North & South24 Paragnas districts. The wild seedsof different fish and shrimp speciesenter the farm along with the tidalwaters. The farmers stock natural orhatchery produced seed of Penaeusmonodon for better yield, into traditionalfarms, locally known as bheries. After3 months, seeds are allowed to escapeto main bheri by cutting the earthenbund of the nursery pond at 2 – 3different places. Stocking andharvesting is periodic, according to thelunar phase.

In North 24 - Paragnas nearly 51farmers with farming area of 820 Ha.have been identified for startingA view of the audience


organic shrimp culture under theguidance of MPEDA and with thesupport of M/s WAB International.During the current year, about 40 MTof organic shrimp has been alreadyprocured by M/s WAB from theorganic shrimp farmers of North 24Paragnas and exported 12 MT toEurope during 2011-12. In order tocreate wider awareness among thefarmers in the region and to bring morefarmers under organic shrimp culture,a One-day Farmer’s Meet wasproposed at Matia, North 24 Parganason “Organic Shrimp Farming”.

The Meet was attended by 100shrimp farmers of North & South 24Paragnas. Apart from farmers, Shri BK Mondal, Deputy Director ofFisheries, Brackishwater (HQ), Govt.of West Bengal, Shri A K Sarkar,International Manager, ICS, M/s WABInternational, Dr A D Deo, SeniorScientist, CIBA, Kakdwip, Shri AbhijitMukharjii, representative from M/sIFB, Shri P N Vinod, Asst. Director(IOAP), MPEDA, HO, Shri B K Das,Asst. Director, MPEDA, RO, Kolkata,Shri P Mallick, farmer representative,Shri A Ray, State Coordinator,

NETFISH and Shri J Sengupta, FieldManager, NaCSA, attended the meet.

A group discussion was held in theafternoon session of the meet. Theclarifications sought by the farmers onthe scheme of MPEDA for organicshrimp farming, were clarified byShri P N Vinod, AD (IOAP), MPEDA,HO.

During the meeting leaflets aboutMPEDA’s revised financial schemesfor organic shrimp farming, status ofshrimp farming in west Bengal, list ofbanned antibiotics in shrimp etc. weredistributed to the participants.

PERIODICALS

1. PRIME Weekly (Price Indicator for Marine Products) 350.00

2. MPEDA Newsletter 300.00

3. Chart on Commercial Fishes of India 75.004. Chart on Ornamental Fishes of India 75.005. MPEDA Act, Rules & Regulations 25.006. Statistics of Marine Products 2008 350.007. Seafood Delicacies from India 100.008. Indian Fishery Hand Book 250.009. Product Catalogue 150.0010. Handbook on Ornamental Fish Diseases 50.0011. Water Quality in the Ornamental Aquatic Industry - Serial 1 125.0012. International Transport of Live Fish in the Ornamental Aquatic industry Serial - 2 125.0013. Live Food Culture for the Ornamental Aquatic Industry - Serial 3 125.0014. Biosecurity in the Ornamental Aquatic Industry - Serial 4 125.0015. Ornamental Fish Breeders / Traders Directory 25.0016. Guidelines - Green Certifications of Fresh Water Ornamental Fishes 100.0017. Directory of Exporters of Marine Products 75.0018. Directory of Exporters of Marine Products CD 30.00

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QUALITY FRONT

The Fishing Boat & SystemEngineering Association (Ministry ofAgricuture, Forestry & Fisheries),Tokyo, Japan has deputed a team toIndia to undertake a study on capacitybuilding and quality control systemmanagement including implementationof HACCP system in Indian SeafoodIndustry, relevent EU Regulations forpromoting export of marine productsto the European Union etc. The teamvisited India during October 2011.

The team had their openingmeeting at MPEDA-Head Officewhich was attended by senior MPEDAofficials led by Mr. N Ramesh ITS,Director (Marketing). As desired by thestudy team, Shri K Sasidharan Nair,Assistant Director (QC) made apresentation on the relevant EuropeanCommission Regulations governingexport of marine products to theEuropean Union.

The Japanese team also madepresentations on LED Squid Fishing

Japanese Study Team visits India

Japanese team being welcomed by Mr. N Ramesh ITS, Director (Marketing), MPEDASeated (L-R): Mr. Toshiyuki Okano, Mr. Kazuo Yamauchi, Mr. Hayashi E, Mr. Norio

Nagashima (Team Leader) and Mr. Kensou Tanaka

and the Techniques on Fuel Efficiencyin Fishing Boats and the SeafoodTraceability System followed in Japan.

During the study tour, the teamvisited MPEDA Residue monitoring

lab, Export Inspection Agency, Kochiand Munambam Fishing Harbourapart from a couple of seafoodprocessing establishments at Kochi &Mumbai.

Reciprocal address by Mr. Norio Nagashima,Leaader, Japanese team The team visits MPEDA Laboratory at Kochi


QUALITY FRONT

A training programme onHACCP (Basic) was organized byMPEDA, Sub-Regional Office,Bhubaneswar from 29-11-2011 to 02-12-2011.

Shri G Mohanty, RegionalPresident, Seafood Exporter’sAssociation of India (Orissa Region)has inaugurated the workshop. In hisinaugural address, Shri Mohantyemphasized the significance ofimplementation of HACCP in theseafood industry, particularly in thewake of the stringent regulatoryrequirements imposed by theimporting countries. Expressing hisconcern over the present trend ofreturn of seafood consignments fromthe country, that too in the context ofthe global melt-down, he alerted all theQuality Assurance Managers andTechnologists present for the trainingprogramme to be more cautious andto adopt adequate quality controlmeasures to avert such unpleasantsituations. He also advised the traineesto take maximum advantage of thisprogramme and clear their doubts. He

HACCP (Basic) Training Programme organised byMPEDA at Bhubaneswar

Shri G Mohanty, Regional President, SEAI, Odisha Region inauguratesthe Training Programme

also appreciated the efforts ofMPEDA in the quality front andlauded for imparting such valuabletraining to benefit the seafood industry.

In his special address to theparticipants Shri K S Nair, Asst.Director (QC) stressed the need ofimplementing food safety programmes.Recalling the recent audit performed

by the Inspection Mission of theEuropean Commission in the seafoodprocessing establishments in India, hecalled upon the participants to equipthemselves to effectively implementHACCP system in their processingplants, whereby they would be able toboldly face the International auditteams.

Earlier, Shri S K Patra, AssistantDirector, MPEDA, SRO, Bhubaneswarwelcomed the gathering. He appraisedthe importance of quality assurance inthe seafood industry and urged allparticipants to take maximumadvantage of such training programmesto ensure food safety.

The inaugural function concludedby a vote of thanks by Shri J MahetaMukesh, JTO (QC), MPEDA, SRO,Bhubaneswar.

The faculty members, Shri KSasidharan Nair, Asst. Director (QC),MPEDA, Kochi, Shri S S Shaji, Asst.Director (QC), MPEDA, RegionalOffice, Kochi and Shri V Vinod,Shri S S Shaji conducting the work session during the Training Programme


QUALITY FRONTTechnical Officer (QC), MPEDA,Kochi handled various sessions duringthe four day training programme. Thecourse which is divided into threedistinct segments coveredFundamentals of HACCP,Relationship of HACCP and FDA’s

Seafood Regulation and Worksessions to develop a seafood HACCPplan.

Additionally, the topics likeNational & EU Regulations, Specialemphasis on SSOP, Traceability etc.were also covered in the training

programme for the benefit of thetechnologists.

The programme was concludedon 2nd December, 2011 with avaledictory function, which waschaired by the Asst. Director, MPEDA,Bhubaneswar.

5th Meeting of ISO/TC - 234 on ‘Fisheries &Aquaculture Technical Committee’ held at BoulogneSur Mer, France

The 5th Plenary Meeting, WorkingGroup Meeting and Advisory GroupMeeting were held at Boulogne surMer, France from 22nd – 24th

November 2011, which was followedby a visit of delegates to the FishingPort & Auction Centre at Boulogne surMer and a few near by seafoodprocessing establishments.

The ISO/TC- 234 has chosenIndia to lead the work in “Traceabilityfor Shellfish including Crustaceans andMolluscs”. The Government of Indiahas nominated Dr. S Girija, Director- NIFPHATT, Cochin , the ConvenerMember of the Expert Group, ShriK Sasidharan Nair, Assistant Director,MPEDA,Cochin, Shri V Vinod,

A view of the Indian Delegation at the Working Group meeting of ISO/TC-234(L-R) Shri K S Nair, Asst. Director, Shri V Vinod, Technical Officer, MPEDA, Dr. S Girija,Director, NIFPHATT and Shri Nobert Karikkasserry, Regional President, SEAI, Kerala

Technical Officer, MPEDA,Cochinand Shri Nobert Karikkasserry,Regional President, SEAI, Kerala torepresent India in the 5th Meeting ofISO/TC-234. In the plenary meetingDr. S Girija presented the standardsevolved for “Traceability for Shellfishincluding Crustaceans and Molluscs”,the New Work Item Proposal (NWIP).After deliberations and assessing theprogress made in the NWIP, the ISO/TC- 234 agreed to establish a ‘WorkingGroup’ in the ISO/TC- 234 (viz. WG-07 – “Traceability Standards ofShellfish Including Crustaceans andMolluscs”) and passed a resolution toFishing auction system at Boulogne Sur Mer fishing harbour in France


the effect that India will lead theWorking Group and Dr. S Girija willbe the Convener for WG-07.

Besides, taking into considerationthe views of other participatingcountries in the NWIP (viz Thailand,Canada, U K etc.), the ISO/TC-234has also noted that the traceabilitystandards need to be bifurcated intoCrustaceans and Molluscs with furthersegregation into captured and culturedCrustaceans and Molluscs as distinctsectors. Thus, the ISO/TC-234requested the ISO Secretariat toinclude the following projects as newwork item of the WG-07.1. “Traceability of Crustacean

Products – Specifications on theinformation to be recorded in thefarmed crustacean distributionchains”.

2. “Traceability of CrustaceanProducts – Specifications on theinformation to be recorded incaptured crustacean distributionchains”.

3. “Traceability of Molluscan Products– Specifications on theinformation to be recorded infarmed molluscan distributionchains”.

4. “Traceability of MolluscanProducts – Specifications on theinformation to be recorded incaptured molluscan distributionchains”.During the field visit that followed

the meetings, the delegates were givenan opportunity to visit the Fishing Portat Boulogne Sur Mer, France to witnessthemselves the post harvest handlingat the fishing port and sale of the catch.The delegates also had the opportunityto visit a few seafood processingestablishments, including establishmentsengaged in the processing of value-added fishery products like shrimps,salmon, marinated herrings etc. inready-to-eat / heat & eat productforms.

The landing centre at Boulogne sur Mer, France

Display of a some value added seafood products in a unit visited by the delegates

QUALITY FRONT

CORRIGENDUM

In ‘Shrimp market report - Japan’ in page 4 of November 2011 issueof MPEDA Newsletter, the Quantity is in MT. Error is regretted


AQUACULTURE SCENETraining Programme on “Eco-friendly and sustainableshrimp farming, better management practices andaquaculture diversification” by MPEDA, RC, Panvel

“M/s Bhagawati KolambiSanvardhan Matsya VyavasayikSahakari Sanstha, Chaul village, AlibagTaluk, Raigad District is a society thathas applied to the Govt. ofMaharashtra for getting suitablebrackishwater areas at Chaul fordevelopment of shrimp farming.Based on a request placed by them,MPEDA, Regional Centre [Aq], Panvelorganized five days’ trainingprogramme on “Eco-friendly andsustainable shrimp farming, bettermanagement practices and aquaculturediversification” during October 2011.The venue of the training was“Sadaguru meeting hall” Shri SadguruGrameen Bigershethi Sahakari CreditSociety, Chaul village. Thirtycandidates participated in the trainingprogramme.

Shri Pravin Raut, Chairman, M/s Bhagawati Kolambi Sanvardhan Matsya VyavasayikSahakari Sanstha Maryadit, Chaul inaugurates the training programme

The training programme wasinaugurated on 17.10.2011 by ShriPravin Raut, Chairman, M/sBhagawati Kolambi SanvardhanMatsya Vyavasayik Sahakari SansthaMaryadit, Village-Chaul.

The classes were handled byOfficials of MPEDA and Shri RameshHingmire, Fisheries DevelopmentOfficer, Alibag-Raigad on variousaspects of shrimp farming such as roleof MPEDA in aquaculturedevelopment and their schemes,design, layout and construction offarms, water quality management, lifecycle and biology of shrimp, seedproduction in hatcheries, seedselection, transportation,acclimatization and stocking, pondDemonstration to trainees during field visit


AQUACULTURE SCENEpreparation, growth monitoring, stockassessment, feed management andfeeding schedule, shrimp healthmanagement and disease, harvest andpost harvest handling, antibiotics andits harmful effects, economics inshrimp farming, bio-security issues,diversification of aquaculture, societyregistration, culture of Asian seabassand L. vannamei .

A field trip was arranged for thetrainees on the third day to the farmof Shri Chandrakant Gidi at village-Usadi, Murud, Raigad for practicaldemonstrations.

Shri S R Patil, Branch Manager,State Bank of India, Chaul was theChief Guest of the valedictoryfunction. He has distributedcertificates and stipend to the trainees.

Shri Maruti D Yaligar, Deputy Director (Aqua), MPEDA speaking at the valedictoryfunction

MPEDA Regional Centre, PanvelOrganizes Campaign against use of Antibioticin Aquaculture

In order to create awarenessamong farmers / technicians on abuseof antibiotics in aquaculture,MPEDA, Regional Centre [Aqua]conducted antibiotic campaignprogramme at S K Patil School Hall,Pat Village, Kudal Taluka, Sindhudurgdistrict on 6th December 2011. 23farmers / technicians and officialsfrom Fisheries Department attendedthe programme.

Shri Vikas Gavand, Director, S KPatil Education Society inauguratedthe programme. The programme hadsessions on problem of antibiotic andpesticide residue in aquaculture,precautions to be taken by farmers toavoid residues, concept and GMPs inL.vannamei farming, Organic shrimpfarming, formation of society / aqua Inauguration of the programme


AQUACULTURE SCENEclub, national residue controlprogramme, ELISA test etc. led byShri Maruti D Yaligar, DeputyDirector[Aq] and Mr. S M Shirodkar,Jr. Tech. Officer [Aq], MPEDA.

S h r i V G G a v a n k a r ,Principal , S K Pati l High Schooland Shri V B Kamble, AssistantFisher y Development Off icer,Dept. of Fisheries, SindhudurgD i s t r i c t a l s o a t t e n d e d t h eprogramme.

A view of participants

Training Programme on Mud Crab Farmingby MPEDA, RC, Bhubaneswar in Ganjam District

A 2-day training programme onMud Crab Farming was conducted byMPEDA Regional Centre,Bhubaneswar at Sunapur village inGanjam district from 14th to 15th

December, 2011. Twenty crab/shrimpfarmers attended this programme.

The training programme wasinaugurated by Dr. D Satpathy,Professor (Aquaculture), College ofFisheries, Rangailunda, Brahmapur.

Shri G Rathinaraj, DeputyDirector (AQ) in his welcome addressnarrated the role of MPEDA in thedevelopment of shrimp/scampifarming in Odisha state and theimportance of conducting theprogramme for the benefit of farmers.He stressed for diversification inaquaculture for sustainability andsuggested Crab/Seabass as the bestalternative. ‘Mud crab has greatdemand among all the exportable seafood items. Its meat is delicious andnutritious and is being exported liveto overseas market. Scientific methodof mud crab farming involves rearingof hatchery produced crablets, feedingwith supplementary artificial feed inthe rearing ponds with more numbers

upto marketable size (> 500 Gm) whilemaintaining soil & water qualityparameters.

Dr. Satpathy, in his inauguralspeech, appreciated MPEDA forconducting such a trainingprogramme for the benefit of crabfarmers. He has also requestedMPEDA to conduct more suchprogrammes especially in Ganjam

District as this District is consideredto be potential for crab farming andshared his research experiencesconducted on mud crab farming withtrainees.

Shri U C Mohapatra, AssistantDirector (AQ) explained the crabdemonstration conducted by MPEDAin the pond of Shri Bagban Behera atSunapur last year leading to the

Inaugural session


AQUACULTURE SCENE

production of 243 Kg. Mud crabs of 525gm. Average size from 0.16 ha of waterspread area of the said demonstrationpond.

Transportation is the bottleneck forthe farmers of Odisha. As there are nodirect flight to overseas markets, farmersdepend bus/train to transport theirproducts to Kolkata/Chennai fromwhere crabs in live form are exported tocountries like Singapore, Japan, Taiwanand other countries. The farmers get Rs300 to 400 only per kilogram for the crabfrom the exporters in Kolkata andChennai but actually sold at more thandouble in export markets.

Dr. D Satpathy, Professor(Aquaculture), College of Fisheriesdelivered the lecture with power pointpresentation both in the forenoon &afternoon sessions covering topics suchas habitat & distribution, taxonomy,identifying features of mud crab such asScylla serrata and S. tranquebarica, life cycle,hatchery seed production of mud crab,nursery rearing, grow out technology,harvest and marketing and diseases werepresented by him. On 15th December,

2011, Shri A Panigrahi, DistrictFisheries Officer, Ganjam Districtdelivered a guest lecture on thepresent and future prospects of crabfarming in Odisha state and pointedout suitable areas available in thedistrict for mud crab farming. ShriU C Mohapatra, Assistant Director

(AQ) made a power point presentationcovering pond preparation, pondmanagement, crab seed transportation,crab seed stocking, water management,feed & feeding & health management.Shri G Rathinaraj, Deputy Director(AQ) gave a lecture on ‘economics ofcrab farming’. A field visit wasarranged to the nearby crab farmsbelonging to Shri Debaraj Behera,Nirangan Behera & Antaryami Behera.

A group discussion was arrangedand trainees interacted with MPEDA/BFDA officials and clarified theirvarious doubts. On behalf of traineesShri Laxman Behera & Shri BabulaBehera expressed their views on thetraining programme stating that thetraining was very much useful and theyinformed that they would stockcrablets produced from hatcheries infuture. In the afternoon, a valedictoryfunction was organized and waspresided over by Shri A Panigrahi,DFO, Ganjam District. Shri Panigrahi,DFO, Ganjam in his address suggestedthe trainees to make full use of theinformation gathered during thepogramme and distributed thecertificates to the trainees.

Trainees with the harvested crabs

A view of the trainees


AQUACULTURE SCENE


Seafood now DNA certifiedRESTAURANTS worldwide

will soon use new DNA technologyto assure patrons they are beingserved the genuine fish fillet orcaviar they ordered.

In October, the US Food andDrug Administration officiallyapproved so-called DNA barcoding -a standardised fingerprint that canidentify a species like a supermarketscanner reads a barcode - to preventthe mislabelling of both locallyproduced and imported seafood in theUnited States.

Other national regulators aroundthe world are also considering adoptingDNA barcoding as a fast, reliable andcost-effective tool for identifyingorganic matter.

David Schindel, a SmithsonianInstitution palaeontologist and

executive secretary of the Washington-based Consortium for the Barcode ofLife, said he has started discussionswith the restaurant industry andseafood suppliers about utilising thetechnology as a means of certifying theauthenticity of delicacies.

“When they sell something that’sreally expensive, they want theconsumer to believe that they’re gettingwhat they’re paying for,” Schindel toldThe Associated Press.

“We’re going to start seeing a self-regulating movement by the high-endtrade embracing barcoding as a markof quality,” he said.

While it would never beeconomically viable to DNA test everyfish, it would be possible to test asample of several fish from a trawlerload, he said.

Schindel is organiser of thebiennial International Barcode of LifeConference, which is being held onMonday in Adelaide. The fourth in theconference series brings together 450experts in the field to discuss new andincreasingly diverse applications for thescience.

Applications range fromdiscovering what Australia’s herd ofone million feral camels feeds on in theOutback to uncovering fraud inMalaysia’s herbal drug industry.

NEWS SPECTRUM

Researchers at HarvardUniversity have combined chitosanand silk to form an amazingly toughmaterial called “shrilk”. Here aresome quotes from their most recentresearch.

“We refer to this novel compositematerial as “shrilk” because chitosanis commonly isolated from shrimpshells and fibroin comes from silk. Interestingly, mechanical testingrevealed that the shrilk laminateexhibits an ultimate strength which isten times stronger than that previouslydescribed for a chitosan/fibroin blendwith similar weight-to-weight ratios,and it exhibits twice the strength of

Massachusetts — Throw Away Your Shrimp,But Keep Their Shells

chitosan, which is its strongestcomponent.”

“Bio-inspired cuticle mimics mayprove useful as replacements forplastics in consumer products and forcertain medical applications, aschitosan and fibroin are bio-degradable, bio-compatible, and usedin approved clinical products.”

”Importantly, shrilk even exhibitsnovel properties compared to othercommon high-strength materials, as itis twice as strong as nylon and it hassimilar strength to aluminum alloys, butat half their weight due to its lowerdensity.”

In one configuration, “shrilkcould potentially serve as a bio-compatible and bio-degradablescaffold for small vessel repair or as anerve conduit given its high bio-compatibility.”

“Based on its outstandingstrength and versatility, as well as itslow cost and density, shrilk is anexcellent candidate as a bio-degradableplastic that could have great value as areplacement for existing non-degradable plastics in a wide range ofconsumer product application areas,including disposable bottles, trash bags,packing materials and diapers thatcurrently pile up in waste


NEWS SPECTRUMSchindel leads a consortium of

scientists from almost 50 nations inoverseeing the compilation of a globalreference library for the Earth’s 1.8million known species.

The Barcode of Life Database sofar includes more than 167,000 species.

Mislabelling is widespread in theseafood industry and usually involvescheaper types of fish being sold asmore expensive varieties. A pair ofNew York high school students using

DNA barcoding of food stocked intheir own kitchens found in a 2009study that caviar labelled as sturgeonwas actually Mississippi paddlefish.

In a published study a year earlier,another pair of students from the highschool found that a quarter of fishsamples they had collected aroundNew York were incorrectly labelled ashigher-priced fish.

Mislabelling of fish - whichaccount for almost half the world’s

vertebrate species - also poses risksto human health and theenvironment.

In 2007, several people becameseriously ill from eating illegallyimported toxic pufferfish from Chinathat had been mislabelled as monkfishto circumvent US import restrictions.Endangered species are also sold asmore common fish varieties.

-Rod Mc Guirk, The Daily Telegraph,

The seafood industry is the mostdiverse protein-producing industry. Itis a unique sector as approximately 50per cent of the supply for humanconsumption comes from wild catch,the world’s only commerciallysignificant form of food productionwhich relies on wild resources.

The seafood industry is the mostdiverse protein-producing industry. Itis a unique sector as approximately 50per cent of the supply for humanconsumption comes from wild catch,the world’s only commerciallysignificant form of food productionwhich relies on wild resources.

The other 50 per cent is producedby aquaculture, a young and dynamicindustry that represents the fastestgrowing protein-producing system inthe last three decades and also in theforeseeable future. Among these twoproduction systems there are manyspecies- based markets across the globe,all with highly uncorrelated dynamics.All share the same strong demandfunction, as developing countries areundergoing a dietary shift towards ahigher level of protein consumptionwhile developed countries are focusingon food with health benefits found in

Spotlight On Seafood: Outlookseafood, such as Omega 3 and lowsaturated fat content.

However, apart from the demandfunction, the subsectors in the seafoodindustry are highly diverse. Thisdiversity has created a sector which isfragmented and challenging forinvestors. But it is precisely thisfragmentation and diversity that iscreating the opportunity for leadingproducers to take a number of strategicdirections: they could becomespecialised in a single subsector anddiversify regionally or globally, asMarine Harvest, the world’s leadingsalmon farmer has done, or they couldpursue a diversified business modelstrategy based on the many species ofthe seafood industry.

In both cases, profitability andsales growth can benefit from thedemand function of the seafoodindustry, technological improvementsand potential synergy fromacquisitions.

RRRRResilient business modelesilient business modelesilient business modelesilient business modelesilient business modelbased on three pillarbased on three pillarbased on three pillarbased on three pillarbased on three pillarsssss

Rabobank is of the opinion thatthe global seafood industry is currentlyat the very beginning of cross-species,cross-geography and cross-value chain

consolidation. We believe that theintegration of wild catch, aquacultureand seafood processing into a singlediversified entity is only just startingto gain ground as a business modelconcept.

Each one of the three pillars hasa role to play. A wild-catch producerin a well-regulated and consolidatedfishery will be the key cash generator,and with its strong asset base (fishingquotas and vessels), can function as aguarantor for the diversified group.The aquaculture part will benefit fromthe sector’s growth dynamic and willbe the key recipient of investmentfunds.

Finally, the processing unit willbenefit from the upstream synergy inlogistics, distribution, marketing andbranding, which all seafood productsshare, regardless of their wild-catch oraquaculture origins. The processingunit will also act to mitigate the volatilespot prices adding further financialstability to the group.

The experience of companiessuch as Pescanova and Sanford testifyto the consistent and peer-leadingfinancial performance of thediversified seafood producer model.


NEWS SPECTRUMMore recently, Chilean companies likeCamanachaca and the recently formedBlumar Seafoods, as well as US- basedIcicle Seafoods have started to pursuethis diversified strategy.

In our opinion, this businessmodel is resilient to macroeconomicand commodity cycles while it alsocapitalises on the growth potential ofthe seafood industry. By no means willthis be the only successful businessmodel in the seafood sector. Speciesspecialists, one-stop-shop processorsand other business models will also

perform well. However, it is thediversified business model whichutilises the diversity of the seafoodindustry to create a type of businessenterprise unique to this sector.

The profile of this industry isgrowing among financial investors,who will act as catalysts to enable theexpected consolidation as well as helpto finance the rapid technologydevelopments and expansion plans ofthe aquaculture sector. The diversifiedbusiness model could certainly beattractive for PE investors, which until

now have refrained from investing inaquaculture because of its cyclicality,biological assets and frequent businessenvironment changes.

Finally, it is also possible that theseafood industry will gradually attractthe attention of the more consolidatedand larger animal protein industry whichcould be a key investor in the mid tolong term and is likely to target someof the high- growth aquaculture sectors,such as salmon, shrimp or tilapia.

Source : thefishsite

THE European Commission hasproposed a new fund for the EU’smaritime and fisheries policies for theperiod 2014-2020: the EuropeanMaritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF).

The Fund will help deliver theambitious objectives of the reform ofthe Common Fisheries Policy and willhelp fishermen in the transitiontowards sustainable fishing, as well ascoastal communities in thediversification of their economies. Thefund will finance projects that createnew jobs and improve quality of lifealong European coasts. Red tape willbe cut so that beneficiaries have easyaccess to financing.

Maria Damanaki, Commissionerin charge of Maritime Affairs andFisheries, said: “This new fund willincrease economic growth and createjobs in the sector. No more money willbe spent to build big vessels. Small scalefisheries and aquaculture will benefitfrom this budgetary greening of theCommon Fisheries Policy.”

This new fund will replace theexisting European Fisheries Fund(EFF) and a number of other

EU Maritime and Fisheries Fund launched in Brusselsinstruments. The proposed envelopeamounts to € 6.5 billion for the period2014 to 2020.

Struan Stevenson, Conservativefisheries spokesman in the EuropeanParliament commented that the newsystem contains good and bad news -the European Maritime and FisheriesFund is intended to offer more-efficient and simpler to access forpotential beneficiaries, includinggovernments, enterprises, fishermenand coastal communities. It aims tosupport sustainable growth - fornatural resources and for localcommunities.

But Mr Stevenson, MEP forScotland, said the overall funding potof 6 billion was insufficient.

He explained: “That is only 6billion for all of the EU maritimeeconomy, of which fisheries is only apart. So compared to the 50 billionspent on Common Agricultural Policythat is not very much.”

He pointed to several welcomemeasures in the package, includingmore focus to be put on aquaculture,

and said: “We need to invest morein research, development andinnovation in this industry, as Europeis only 40 per cent self-sufficient in fishand we have to import the other 60per cent. This means there is a fantasticopportunity to expand EU fishfarming if we are prepared to providethe necessary financial support.”

He also welcomed the greeningaspects of the EMFF and proposedinvestment aimed at better scientificinput to fisheries and closer co-operation between scientists andfishermen.

He said: “Sustainable fisheries andthe ecosystem approach are vital forhealthy seas, healthy fish stocks andhealthy fishing communities.

But one controversial item was adecision to end grants fordecommissioning and to rely on themarket to sort out fleet overcapacityin future: “The system they wish toimplement to achieve this is calledTransferable Fisheries Concessions -which the Common Fisheries Reformregulation proposes may be tradedbetween Member States.


NEWS SPECTRUM“This could lead to the wealthiest

Spanish fishing companies buying upall the UK quota, and then landingtheir catch in Vigo rather thanports such as Peterhead andFraserburgh. Such an outcome woulddevastate our fleet and our fragilefishing communities and will bevigorously opposed.

Louize Hill, Head of Marine &Fisheries at WWF’s European Policycommented: “After the poorperformance of the EFF, subsidies are

only justifiable if they help to endoverfishing and stimulate thesustainable management of fisheries.In order to save jobs in the fisheriessector and make them profitable, wefirst need to restore and properlymanage fish stocks and theenvironment on which they depend.Unfortunately, the EMFF proposallacks the ambition to help transformEurope’s fisheries management and laya solid basis for healthy and profitablefisheries in the future.

“While we welcome the removalof harmful subsidies that increasefishing capacity of the fleet, WWF isconcerned about proposed allocationsfor modernisation of equipment andaquaculture. Strict safeguards areneeded to prevent these fundssupporting oversized fleets or harmingthe environment. In times of financialausterity the last thing citizens shouldbe expected to do is pay to keep anunprofitable fishing sector afloat thatcontinues to overexploit scarce naturalresources.”

US and EU on Collision Course over Antibiotics?The debate

over the use ofantibiotics onanimals andtheir potentialto producea n t i b i o t i cresistance inhumans hasbeen stepped

up in recent weeks.

In the EU, the EuropeanCommission has introduced an actionplan detailing 12 concrete actions tobe implemented in close cooperationwith the Member States.

European Commissioner forHealth and Consumer Policy, JohnDalli said: “We need to take swift anddetermined action if we do not wantto lose antimicrobial medicines asessential treatment against bacterialinfections in both humans and animals.

“The 12 concrete actions for thenext five years could help limit thespread of anti-microbial resistance andhelp develop new anti-microbialtreatment. Their success requiresjoined efforts from the EU, theMember States, healthcareprofessionals, industry, farmers andmany others.”

The Action Plan specifically statesthat more action should be taken toensure that antimicrobials are usedappropriately in animals.

It also wants to improve themonitoring and surveillance ofantimicrobial use.

Tough measures have also beentaken separately in Germany andFrance to increase the monitoring oftheir use and reduce their use wherepossible.

In the US, however, the Food andDrug administration has refused twolongstanding petitions to limit the useof antibiotics on farms.

The petitions were filed in 1999and 2005 by the Center for Science inthe Public Interest (CSPI) togetherwith several environmental andmedical organisations calling on theFDA to cancel its approval of the‘herdwide and flockwide’ uses ofseveral classes of antibiotics forpromoting growth and preventingdisease in chickens, swine and beefcattle, out of concern that such use willspur resistance and reduce the drugs’effectiveness in humans.

The FDA said it preferred avoluntary code for the reduction in the

use of antibiotics and added that toban them could lead to lengthy andexpensive litigation.

The FDA’s stance comes in theface of research from Tufts UniversitySchool of Medicine calling for stricterregulation of the practice of usingantibiotics for non-therapeutic reasons.

“The United States lags behind itsEuropean counterparts in establishinga ban on the use of antibiotics forgrowth promotion. For years it wasbelieved that giving low-doseantibiotics via feed to promote growthin cows, swine, chickens and the useof antibiotics in fish farming had nonegative consequences. Today, there isoverwhelming evidence that non-therapeutic use of antibioticscontributes to antibiotic resistance,even if we do not understand all themechanisms in the genetictransmission chain,” says Dr StuartLevy, MD, professor of molecularbiology and microbiology and directorof the Center for Adaptation Geneticsand Drug Resistance at TuftsUniversity School of Medicine.

It is this dichotomy between thestance being taken by the US Food andDrug Administration and the stricter


NEWS SPECTRUMstance of the European Commissionthat could lead to potential troubles.

In the World Trade OrganisationDoha trade talks, some of thestumbling blocks in the agriculturaldiscussions have been the divides overthe use of Sanitary and Phytosanitaryas a means to block free trade.

South American countries haveshouted long and hard that they arebeing unfairly treated by the EU andthe US over bocks to trade in meatproducts and livestock.

Concerns over Foot and MouthDisease and also health and hygienepractices in processing plants have ledthe way in the disputes between thetwo blocs.

The EU and the US has a historyin taking robust stance on health and

safety issues where meat and food isconcerned.

For years, the EU banned beeffrom the US because of the use ofgrowth promoters that they hadbanned. The European Commissionmaintains that they are carcinogenicwhile the US refutes the claims andbacks their safety with differentscientific research.

The ban led to a cycle ofretaliatory tariff measures againstother goods coming from the EU tothe US.

Earlier this year the measures wererelaxed as a larger quota of non-hormone treated beef was allowed intothe EU from the US, but the disputehas still not and is never likely to befinally settled.

Now, the use of antibiotics inlivestock production for non-therapeutic reasons could spark anothertrade war between the US and the EU.

The US GovernmentAccountability Office this autumn calledfor greater monitoring of their use andsurveillance of antibiotic resistance inhumans. It also called for research intoalternatives to antibiotics for non-therapeutic use - but will this be enoughwhen the FDA still takes a stance that itshould be a question of choice.

With the EU tightening itscontrols on antibiotic use, havingalready banned their use as a growthpromoter, it would seem that a head-on collision between the EU and theUS is inevitable and the fallout couldbe considerable and costly.Chris Harris, Editor-in-Chief the fish site


Fishermen of over a dozencoastal villages in Raigad district ofMaharashtra have been catching 50 percent more in their nets ever since theybegan to use mobile sets that providesatellite data and maps on prospectivefishing zones.

The fishermen of these villagesreceive real-time maps and data aboutprospective fish schools, storms, winddirection and velocity directly on thesesets.

The sets were distributed under apilot project being run by the IndianCouncil of Agricultural Research(ICAR), Indian National Centre forOcean Information Services(INCOSIS), Hyderabad, and TataConsultancy Service (TCS) in Mumbai.

“We are using satellites to getprecise data and maps aboutprospective fish zones, wind directionand wind velocity and weatherconditions, which help the fishermen

a lot,” said Veerendra Veer Singh,Principal Scientist at the MumbaiResearch Centre of the Central MarineFisheries Research Institute (CMFRI),Cochin.

“A total of 13 mobile sets havebeen distributed to the village societiesto disseminate the most up-to-dateinformation,” Mr. Singh added.

CMFRI is an institute of ICAR.

Mr. Singh has headed the projectsince its inception and is currently incharge of the pilot project launchedin 2010.

“Currently, 5 per cent of thefishers in selected villages are using thetechnology, which in turn leads to asaving of 5 lakh litres of diesel per year,costing around Rs. 250 lakh everyyear,” he said.

At present, 1,296 motorised andmechanised boats are operating in the13 coastal villages covered by the

Year 2011 has been good for theIndian seafood export industry aidedby afalling rupee and surging unit valuerealisations.

While total value realisationsincreased almost 25 per cent, thevolume of exports was up tersely at 2-3 per cent.

The unit value in dollar terms washigher, said Mr Anwar Hashim, Vice-President of the Seafood ExportersAssociation of India (SEAI).

This was accompanied by increased

Fishermen catch 50 per cent more using fisheriesmobile service

project, consuming approximately 200lakh litres of diesel per year, theCMFRI scientist said.

It is estimated that after followingthe advisories provided through‘mKRISHI—Fisheries MobileService’, fishermen will saveapproximately 50 per cent of this diesel(i.e. 100 lakh litres of diesel per year),Mr. Singh said.

“The movement of fishes is basedon temperature, food resources, watercurrent, wind direction and windvelocity,” he said.

The fishermen have reported a40-50 per cent in their catch, coupledwith a reduction in the time they spendat sea and expenses, the CMFRIscientist said.- PTI

‘We are using satellites to getprecise data and maps aboutprospective fish zones’

-The Hindu

Vannamei shrimp, falling rupee boost seafoodexports

demand from overseas markets such asSouth-East Asia and China.

Also, farmed shrimp productionwitnessed substantial growth as moreareas were brought under the highlyproductive vannamei cultivation. Whileshrimp exports continue to dominateIndia’s export basket, the current surgein shrimp exports was made possiblethrough increased production of thevannamei variety, Mr D. B. Ravi Reddy,President of SEAI said.

Year-on-year, there was a 17-18per cent depreciation in the value of

the rupee enabling the seafoodexporters to reap rich rewards.

While all seafood exporters stoodto gain, it was the exporters who tookthe least forward cover in dollar in thecurrency futures markets who madethe most significant gains, Mr Hashimsaid.

Rupee fallGoing by the present trend he said

that the fall in the value of the rupeeis likely to persist into March – the endof the current fiscal. Recalling the

NEWS SPECTRUM


experience of Thailand and Indonesiawhere their currency had plungedsharply couple of years ago, he saidcurrencies made good gains but werenever able to recover their previouslevels. This is likely to be the case inIndia as well.

India’s seafood export has gainedconsiderable mileage on account of thelarge size of the new vannamei shrimp.

Being still early days for vannameiproduction in India, the nutrient richsoil and water had aided in reaping arich and large-sized crop.

To maintain the crop productivityand size, sufficient nutrients will haveto be added before the ensuing seasons.The large size also kindled increaseddemand for the Indian shrimp. The

productivity of vannamei crop issubstantially higher than tiger shrimpcultivation, bringing more profits tofarmers and shoring up volumes forexports.

Sustainability

Strides in aquaculture have alwaysbeen accompanied by the call forsustainability, Mr Ravi Reddy said.

The effect of fish farming on theenvironment has to be acceptable inboth the short and long term. As theseafood industry in India is about thewitness yet another year of growth andsuccess, the industry’s commitment tosustainability remains as strong as ever.

The India International SeafoodShow 2012, which is to be organised

jointly by the Marine Products ExportDevelopment Authority and SEAI,from February 29 to March 2 inChennai will highlight the potential ofthe Indian marine industry inachieving sustainability, Mr RaviReddy said.

Going by current trends, theambitious seafood export targets setfor the year seems to be within reach.

Aided by a significant marinecatch and increased aquacultureproduction, ASSOCHAM’sprediction that India’s seafoodindustry, both domestic and exports,would reach Rs 67,800 crore from thecurrent level of Rs 53,000 crore alsoseems possible.

-Hindu Business Line

NEWS SPECTRUM


Unlike smaller species,broodstock management for largepelagic finfish such as tuna involvesmany difficulties, said ChristopherBridges, Heinrich-Heine Universität, atAquaculture Europe 2011. CharlotteJohnston, TheFishSite editor reports.

The handling of such large fishof over 60 to 80 kg such as the bluefintuna precludes many of the techniquesused previously for smaller fish suchas sea bream and sea bass.

New technologues are availablethrough the EU programmes,including environmental monitoringof both cage and fish temperatures topredict spawning, broodstockidentification, sex and tagging togetherwith gamete induction and parentageof offspring and traceability.

Environmental and fish monitoring

This task is accomplished by usingcage based light and temperature dataloggers (HOBO) which could besampled underwater using asubmersible shuttle system. Fish data-loggers (Star-oddi) were mounted insyntactic foam floats and wereimplanted under water using aspeargun. Both types of loggers couldbe individually programmed to recordat set rates and times.

The results of the cage data-loggers were compatible with therecordings made from the Fish data-loggers. Temperature within the cagecould be monitored quite easily andpredictions made as to when the watertemperature would reach 24°C.

Broodstock Identification, Sex andTagging

This was done using a novelsystem developed to both tag and takea muscle biopsy at the same time (SeeFig. 1. B and C). Fish were DNA-

New Technologies In Tuna Breeding

fingerprinted using moleculartechniques and at the same timebiomarkers (Vtg and ZRP) were usedto determine sex. Tags and biopsysampling is possible using both jabstick and speargun applications.

The broodstock could easily betagged with ID markers and PIT tagsand from the muscle biopsy both sexand DNA fin-printing was carried outenabling an approximate 90 per centcertainty in sex discrimination. Aspeargun based system for smallmuscle biopsies required forbroodstock fin printing has beendeveloped recently by the HHUBiology Workshop.

For the induction of spawning thetags used have been developed over anumber of years moving from plasticcarriers for hormones to titaniummounts together with detachablesuture material. Application has beenby jab stick and speargun and ifrequired the direct implantation ofcustom-made or hormone pellets canbe carried out.

Gamete Induction

Using a series of pre-preparedcolour-coded tags ( Figure 1. D)together with hormonal implantcarriers individual fish could be taggedand hormonally induced or treatedunderwater. This could involve eitherGnRHa to induce spawning in mature

fish to estradiol implants to improvegamete production.

Parental contribution to gameteproduction i.e egg production ispossible using either microsatellitemarkers or mitochondrial DNA whichgive differing resolutions of parentalcontribution.

Discussion and Conclusions

The use of these new novelmethods in aquaculture allows a morecomplete control of broodstockmanagement and monitoring,concluded Mr Bridges. For open watergamete production the monitoring oftemperature and light conditions areof great importance.

Since the size of the fish precludesthe normal practices of removal fromwater then semi non-invasivetechniques such as tagging, musclesampling and hormonal induction canbe carried out successfully underwater.

If the goal of sustainableaquaculture is the continued supply ofviable gametes from the broodstockthen the use of these newtechnologies will allow the control andperformance monitoring ofindividual broodstock and further theultimate goal of traceability fromparent to egg to the table can bereached for the consumer.

Source: the fishsite

NEWS SPECTRUM


NEWS SPECTRUM

Double ZZ All-Male Prawns(Excerpts from the interview with Mr. Craig Upstron, Aquaculture of Texas, Inc.)

Shrimp News: Why grow all-maleprawns?

Craig Upstrom:

€ Males grow much faster thanfemales, and reach a larger size.

€ The market likes large prawns andpays more for them.

€ All-male prawns have the potentialto double pond production in theUSA.

€ All-male ponds eliminate skeweredsize distributions in ponds.

€ The process requires no chemicals,hormones or geneticmanipulations.

Shrimp News: How do youcreate all male prawns?

Craig Upstrom: It’s basicallydone through the removal of theandrogenic gland in the males, whichturns them into neo-females. We thenmate those neo-females with normalmales to get all-male offspring.

Shrimp News: How did youlearn how to do that?

Craig Upstrom: A fair amountof research has been done on creatingall-male prawns, but the only conceptthat made sense to me was the workbeing done on the removal of theandrogenic gland, so I started byreading all the research I could find onthe androgenic gland in crustaceans.

Unfortunately, most of it wastheoretical. It took me more than fouryears to perfect procedures thatworked. It was all trial and errorexperimentation.

Shrimp News: I like the name—”Double ZZs”—that you’re using forthe new, all-male prawns. How did youcome up with that name?

Craig Upstrom: In crustaceans,the sex chromosomes are ZZ for malesand ZW for females (unlike mammalsthat are XY and XX), so ZZ meansthey have two male chromosomes.

Shrimp News: Will you have all-male animals ready for sale by thespring of 2012?

Craig Upstrom: I should! Lastyear, I produced 100,000 in one batch. I hope to have millions of animalsready for the spring of 2012.

Shrimp News: Did you do anygrowout trials with those 100,000animals?

Craig Upstrom: Yes, we stocked

two of six, 1.5-acre ponds at acustomer’s farm in Texas with 20,000double ZZs per acre. Due to theextreme drought in Texas last year andchronic low dissolved oxygen levels inhis ponds, production was down;however, the largest and highestproduction of prawns came from theponds stocked with “Double ZZ’s”. Not a single female was found in thosetwo ponds.

Shrimp News: How much are yougoing to charge for the Double ZZs?

Craig Upstrom: I haven’tfigured that out yet. Tentatively, I’mthinking about $60 a thousand. Thenurseries will probably double thatfigure and sell them for $120 athousand, which is not a whole lotmore than they’re getting for normaljuveniles. I think the production ofall-male progeny is going to give theUnited States prawn farming industrythe kick that it needs to move to muchhigher of production levels.

-Source: Telephonic intervew with CraigUpstrom, Aquaculture of Texas, Inc., 4141East IH-20 Service Road North, Weatherford,Texas 76087, USA (phone 1-817-594-4872,email [email protected], webpage http://www.aquacultur eoftexas.com). By BobRosenberry. (Shrimp News International, Dec.9, 2011)

On December 16, 2011, TimMulherin, Queenland’s Minister forAgriculture, Food and RegionalEconomies, announced the opening ofthe world’s first commercial spinylobster (Panulirus ornatus) hatchery at itsNorthern Fisheries Centre in Cairns,

Queensland — The First Commercial Spiny LobsterHatchery

Queensland. Mulherin said scientistsat the facility, led by Dr. Clive Jones,“are now seeking investors to expandthe pilot hatchery into a full-scalecommercial operation at anappropriate location in northQueensland.” The Queensland

Government recently signed anagreement with Sydney-basedcompany, Harvest Capital Partners,which hopes to raise $12.8 millionfrom investors in Asia to develop theproject.

-Source: Factiva


NEWS SPECTRUM

Global warming benefits parasites, disadvantagesfish: study

Scientists from the University ofLeicester’s Department of Biologyhave found that higher watertemperatures allow parasitic wormsthat infect fish to grow four timesfaster and influence the fish to preferwarmer temperatures. This study is oneof the first to prove that globalwarming affects how parasites andtheir hosts interact.

The results, supported by fundingfrom the Biotechnology and BiologicalSciences Research Council (BBSRC)and the Centre for Environment,Fisheries and Aquaculture Science(Cefas), were published in the journalGlobal Change Biology.

The researchers saw behaviouralchanges in infected fish, suggestingthat parasites may manipulate hostbehaviour to make them move towarmer temperatures, where the host’sgrowth rate slowed.

“What we witnessed was that fishinfected with the largest wormsshowed a preference for warmer water,suggesting that these parasites alsomanipulate the behaviour of host fish

in ways that benefit the parasites bymaximizing their growth rates,” said DrIain Barber, who carried out the studywith doctoral student Vicki Macnab.

Macnab noted that the size theseparasites attain in their fish hostsdetermines how severely fishreproduction is affected, such that,according to the study, parasites willhave a more serious effect on fishreproduction if temperatures rise.

“This research shows that globalwarming could shift the balancebetween parasites and their hosts withpotentially serious implications for fishpopulations,” she stated

Parasitic worms infectingstickleback fish grew four times fasterin waters of 20 °C compared to 15 °C,and the fish grew more slowly,suggesting that fish parasites handlehigher temperatures much better thanthe fish they infect.

“The results are importantbecause the size these parasites attainin their fish hosts also determines theirinfectivity to fish-eating birds likekingfishers and herons – the next hosts

in the parasite’s life cycle – and alsothe number of parasite eggs that theywill go on to produce. Bigger larvalparasites in the fish go on to becomelarger adult worms in birds, whichproduce more eggs,” Barber said.

Barber pointed out that after theeight weeks of the study, all of theworms held at 20 °C were matureenough to infect fish-eating birds,whereas none of those held at 15 °Chad reached that size.

Moreover, a follow-up studyshowed that fish infected with thelargest worms showed a preference forwarmer water — suggesting that theseparasites also maneuver the behaviourof host fish to benefit the parasites andmaximize their growth rates.

The results provide some of thefirst evidence that increasingenvironmental temperatures canaccelerate the speed at which parasitescomplete their life cycles, which couldlead to a higher overall level ofparasitism in natural animalpopulations.

Source:fis.,UK

INDIA - World Health EnergyHoldings, Inc, a public holdingcompany developing joint venturepartnerships for algae production forbiodiesel and commercial fish food,has announced the signing of a Letterof Intent with Prime Inc, an IndianIndustrial and transport Company, todevelop a biodiesel production facilityramping up to 250 acres with a budgetof up to 100 million dollars.

The proposed sites fordevelopment are in Tamil Nadu and

Algae Farm To Provide Biodiesel & Fish FoodKarnataka, Indiaand will utilisean AlgaeEnhancementTe c h n o l o g y,known as theGB3000 system,used forgrowing algaefor theproduction ofFish Feed,Proteins and


NEWS SPECTRUMBiofuel in the Territory of India. PrimeInc. India’s current clients include:Exon, Shell, General Electric (GE) andSiemens.

Liran Kosman, CFO of WorldHealth Energy, said: “We look forwardto working with Prime Inc. India in thedesign, development and support of acost-efficient algae production farm.We anticipate scaling up operations andcompleting a number of significantalgae projects in 2012.”

World Health Energy Holdings,Inc. recently acquired GNE-India, analgae technology company with thedistribution and licensing rights to a

Miss Kerala (Puntius Denisonii),is an endemic fish variety found mainlyin the Western Ghats.

A study on the risks of overcollection of the endangeredfreshwater fish Puntius denisonii foraquarium trade has come undercriticism for the “wasteful euthanasia”of 1,080 such fish.

R.J. Ranjit Daniels, conservationbiologist and popular writer, in hiscorrespondence published in the latestedition of Current Science terms thisexperiment as “science without ethics”carried out with scant disregard toguidelines prescribed by theInternational Union for Conservationof Nature (IUCN).

Members of the ConservationResearch Group of St. Albert’s Collegein Kochi had done a study on thereproductive biology of the fish andtheir research paper was published inJournal of Threatened Taxa in September2011.

Known colloquially as MissKerala, these vividly coloured fish are

Mr. Daniels points out that underthe section titled ‘responsiblecollecting’, the IUCN prescribesguidelines for researchers: that theyensure that the material they need isnot already available in the museum orother institutional colections; that theydo not collect more than the minimumnumber of specimens necessary; andthat they employ preferential collectionof post-reproductive individuals. “Thisstudy raises the question: how widelyknown are the IUCN guidelines toresearchers in India?” asks Mr. Danielsin his letter to Current Science .

It is not just Miss Kerala butseveral other forms of aquatic life thatface extinction due to habitat loss andunsustainable harvest in the WesternGhats, he adds. “The Miss Keralaexperience is an early warning to fieldbiologists against ir responsiblecollection of species and must betaken seriously especially by thoseconcerned with freshwater f ishconservation in the Western Ghats,”says Mr. Daniels.

-The Hindu

unique and innovative technology, theGNE GB 3000 system, to grow algaequickly and efficiently for theproduction of biodiesel andcommercial fish food protein. GNE-India owns and retains the territorialrights for distribution and sales of theproprietary technology to both Indiaand Sri Lanka. The company hasexclusive distribution and licensingrights to the GNE GB 3000 system inIndia and Croatia. Earlier this year, theGB 3000 system was used to grow acombination of local algae species,as well as Chlorella, targeting theproduct to the fish feed and biodieselmarkets.

World Health Energy Holdings,Inc. is focused on biofuels producedfrom algae, which boasts substantiallyhigher yields in comparison to ethanolderived from corn, rapeseed, jatrophaand palm oil. The company also workswith visionary enterprises in the multi-billion dollar renewable energy arenaproducing progressive, broad-basedsolutions for better physical, nutritionaland environmental health worldwide.In addition, the company is pursuingan ancillary use of algae — the efficientproduction of high-protein fish feedfor commercial fish farms.

TheFishSite News Desk

Killing of endangered fish for research work comesunder criticism

endemic (naturally restricted) to theWestern Ghats and feature in the RedList of endangered species of theIUCN.

The species, which stayed‘dormant’ for 130 years after beingscientifically documented for the firsttime, was ‘rediscovered’ in 1990s, andhas since been traded as aquarium fish.According to estimates, close to onelakh of these fish are exported everyyear, with each pair fetching around Rs.2,000.

The research group purchased thefish from aquarium fish collectorsoperating in three major rivers of thesouthern Western Ghats: Chandragiri,Valapattanam and Chaliyar.

The live fish, procured inpolythene bags, were killedimmediately by immersing them in ice-slurry and subsequently preserved informaldehyde and their reproductiveorgans removed for study. Theresearch paper concluded that the sexratio of the fish was skewed in favourof males.

Trust the Indian seas.

Where no season is slack,

No Quantity short and

No quality second.

Trust the Indian seas.

Where no season is slack,

No Quantity short and

No quality second.

The Marine Products Export Development Authority

(Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India)

MPEDA House, Panampilly Avenue, PB No. 4272, Kochi-682 036,Kerala, India

Ph:++ 91-484-2311979, 2312812. fax: ++ 91-484-2312812, 2313361, 23144467.

E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.mpeda.com

INDIA INTERNATIONAL SEAFOOD SHOW - 2012

CHENNAI, INDIA

th nd

29 Feb - 2 March 2012

www.indianseafoodexpo.com

Documents

New Letter MPEDA Dec 2011...The first India International Seafood Show was held in 1973 at Mumbai. Later the shows were also organized in various cities like Kochi, Chennai, Bangalore,