Assocham: Annual loss of R15,000 cr in marine sector

Moreover, fish stocks in India’s deep-sea waters also remain untapped owing to the dearth of suitable fishing vessels. Traditional fishing communities are over-exploiting the coastal waters, which is leading to fast depletion of maritime resources and shrinking the catch from the coastal zones.

The post-harvest losses are generally caused due to poor handling and processing of fish. Biochemical and microbiological spoilage, inadequate packaging, marketing malpractices and lack of proper storage facilities are to be blamed.

“These wastage results in potential income loss to fishing community and all the stakeholders, traders and processors involved in fishing-related ancillary operations as the spoiled or damaged fish fetches 20-25% lower price compared to the best quality catch,” said Assocham secretary general DS Rawat.

Assocham has suggested that the government should modernise the existing harbours and establish more cold storage facilities and factory vessels to aid the R61,000-crore fishing and marine industry.

Production of value-added fishery products should be encouraged to realise better returns for producers, besides top-notch harbour and storage facilities also need to be developed, said Rawat. Sustainable practices like eco-friendly fisheries management must be adopted in capture, cultivation, utilisation and marketing of marine products and there is also a need to bring in regulations check over-exploitation of fisheries resources, he added.

The industry body also said

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