Since its inception more than four decades ago, The Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) has been playing an essential role in comprehending the production, infrastructure development, quality control and marketing activities associated to the seafood sector. The customer-centric MPEDA understands the preferences and changing market dynamics to cater to the customer’s demand and ensures quality in seafood it provides to its customers. In her interview with Jasleen Kaur, Leena Nair, Chairperson, MPEDA talks about marine exports, quality, and much more.
It is now more than 40 years since MPEDA was created. How would you like to trace the achievements of MPEDA since then? Indian fishery exports date back to the 1940s with the export of dried fish and fish manure mainly to countries like Hong Kong, Burma, Sri Lanka and Singapore. Our first shipment was of frozen shrimp in 1953 from the port of Cochin, South India to USA. In the year 1961-62, the total quantity exported was 15,732 tonnes worth $8.23 million. At that time, 60 percent of the exports by volume and 40 percent by value were constituted by dried marine products. In order to coordinate the efforts in production, market promotion and export facilitation for the sector, Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) was constituted by an Act of Parliament in 1972. Since then, MPEDA has played a pivotal role in comprehending the production, infrastructure development, quality control and marketing activities associated to the sector. Such relentless efforts and interventions helped us to increase the production output from capture and culture fisheries and to diversify in processing techniques and species marketed. During the financial year 2013-14, exports of marine products reached an all-time high of $5,007.70 million. Exports aggregated to 983,756 tonnes valued at Rs. 30,213.26 crore. Compared to the previous year, seafood exports recorded a growth of 5.98 percent growth in quantity.
How has the global marine products market evolved over the years and how has India kept pace with it? Frozen products have always been on priority among global markets. However, there is a growing preference to chilled/fresh and live items too. The markets show varied preferences to the seafood from India. Though the preference from India is largely for frozen products, we also export items in other processed forms like live, chilled, dried and salted, canned, etc. The preference for varieties varies with market. While markets like Japan and the US prefer shrimps, others like the EU prefer value-added and cephalopod products. Markets like China and South East Asian countries prefer low value fishes and cephalopods. However, our overall stronghold remains frozen shrimp. MPEDA as well as the exporters are able to sense the preferences and changing market dynamics to cater to the customer’s demand accordingly.
Over the last few years, marine exports from India to EU have been facing severe problems, notably consignment rejections. Why is this happening and what role can MPEDA play in ensuring that Indian exporters do not face the same problems? Of course, in the EU market in about four years back, there were some teething issues on rejections due to residues especially that of antibiotic. We are committed to honour the regulations prevailing in every market for smooth flow of seafood trade. As a measure to check the antibiotic residue issue, MPEDA has brought in Pre-Harvest Testing of farmed shrimps/scampi and established laboratories across all the maritime states for the same. With this, the incidents of rejection have been brought down drastically.
How has quality improved over the years? We always strive to improve quality. Quality assurance is a continuous process aimed to provide the customers, the best seafood from our clean coastal waters and farming systems. As I mentioned earlier, introduction of Pre-Harvest Testing has helped in improving the quality of farmed varieties. We are also upgrading our fishing vessels and harbours/landing centres on phase-wise manner to improve post harvest handling. Regular capacity building is done among stakeholders for quality improvement through our extension arms – Network for Fish Quality Management and Sustainable Fishing (NETFISH) and National Centre for Sustainable Aquaculture (NaCSA).
What are innovations that we are seeing in the Indian marine products industry and how is MPEDA helping/encouraging these innovations? The changes are evident from post harvest handling. From dried marine products, we moved on to conventional frozen block products. Now-a-days, a variety of products are made, including ready-to-cook and ready-to-eat products like fish biryani, fish pickles, kneaded (Kamaboko) products, breaded and battered items, canned and retort pouch products, etc. Many fish species, that were unexploited or under exploited like ribbon fish, tuna, jelly fish and bill fishes, have found suitable markets abroad. Through Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Aquaculture, MPEDA’s R&D wing, we also develop and transfer technologies to diversify aqua farming. Entrepreneurship is also on a rise for other cosmetic and pharmaceutical/neutraceutical products from fishery origin. MPEDA also provides financial and technical assistance to the stakeholders for infrastructure and adaptation of technology, which has helped the industry as a whole.
What are the objectives for the coming years? Our focus is to achieve an export target of $6 billion by 2015. India has introduced farming of Pacific White leg shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) with a view to augment shrimp production which was otherwise improving at a slow pace. We expect the global acceptance for our principal shrimp species, the Black Tiger (Penaeus monodon) and vannamei, which will push the exports further up. We are hopeful that the international market will continue their good demand for Indian cephalopods and shrimps.