Seafood exporters had welcomed the April 13 announcement by union finance minister Yashwant Sinha that raw fish can be imported for processing and exports. However, fishermen's unions and fisheries experts have discounted these claims and fear loss of jobs if cheap foreign varieties invade the domestic market.

Exporters are convinced that capacity utilisation will improve tremendously with import of raw fish. The 402 approved seafood processors in the country have a combined installed capacity to process 7,500 tonnes of fish annually. However, shortage of raw materials has resulted in most of the processing plants lying idle during most part of the year. According to estimates, only about 14 per cent of the total installed capacity is used annually.

But, saysKM Shahjahan, principal secretary to Kerala Planning Board vice-chairman IS Gulati, most of the food processing plants had gone in for expansion of their capacities without taking into consideration the long-term availability of raw materials like shrimp and squid, two of the important items processed in these plants. Shahjahan has placed the onus on seafood exporters for under-utilisation of their plants' capacities.

Leaders of traditional fishermen's unions in Kerala have also refuted claims that import of shrimp during the monsoon season will create more work opportunities. According to the seafood processors, the ban on trawling during the monsoon forces many processing plants to suspend work for about 45 days annually. If shrimp and squid can be imported during the period, there will be more work for peelers, say the exporters.

Traditional fishermen feel that this is stretching facts too far. While during the monsoons there is little fishing activity, it is not true to say that fishermen andprocessing plants stay idle during the period. According to one of their leaders, non-mechanised boats catch about 25,000 tonnes of shrimp during the trawling ban period. If imports are allowed, the price of domestic shrimp will drop sharply helping the seafood processors, he pointed out.

More than imports, says Shahjahan, it is the fear of imports that will drive down the price of domestic fish catch. He points to the threat by tyre-makers in the country that they would import natural rubber. Though very little of import has taken place, the price of natural rubber is going through the ground, though it has recovered a little of late.

He feels that fishermen in Kerala will be the worst hit by the threat of imports because species like squid, shrimp and tuna have been included in the list of importable items. These are the varieties that have been earning most foreign exchange during these years.