The Marine Products Export Development Authority (Mpeda), under the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, has tied up with the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and Infofish, a Malaysia-based international body, for developing and marketing freshwater fish in India.
The project, under the FAO Common Fund for Commodities (CFC), is the first of its kind that envisages transfer technology for culture, production and marketing of value-added products from fresh water in India. The three-year project has four main components: market/product studies, technology transfer, investment promotion and capacity building and dissemination.
B Sreekumar, secretary, Mpeda, signed the agreement with Infofish, which was represented by its director Muhammad Ayub, in Chennai.
Mpeda has also signed agreements with four registered seafood processing establishments -- Ananda Enterprises (India) Pvt Ltd, Bhimavaram, Light House Trade Links Pvt Ltd, Chennai, Sanchita Marine Products Pvt Ltd, Mumbai, and Indepesca Overseas Pvt Ltd, Mumbai.
Freshwater aquaculture production consists mainly of Indian major carps, about 70 per cent. Common carps and other carps constitute about 5 per cent of the total fresh water aquaculture production.