A delegation from the European Union is expected to visit Paradip in December to assess the conditions and infrastructure facilities available at the fishing harbour there for seafood export trade.
The state government has taken control of the fishing harbour from the Paradip Port Trust (PPT) and handed it over to the newly formed Paradip Fishing Harbour Management and Development Society (PFHMDS) to procure hygienic marine fish, says Satyabrat Sahu, secretary, fisheries & animal husbandry department.
A team of European Union experts would visit Paradip in December this year and so the department has taken various steps to renovate the fishing harbour before the team’s visit, he told Business Standard.
“Around Rs 500 crore is required for the renovation of entire fishing harbour to produce hygienic fish and export it to foreign countries. The National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB) has agreed to meet this financial assistance for its renovation though a society”, Sahu added.
Rejection of a number of Indian seafood consignments by various European Union nations earlier had threatened to affect marine fish production, paralyzing the livelihood of fishermen.
“Indian seafood contains antibiotic residues and traces of heavy metal, especially in fish and fish products. Therefore, the EU team is coming here to check the residue and analyze the potential hazards at our fish production units in Paradip”, said a senior official of fisheries department.
Similarly, fish production has been severely affected due to non-plying of trawlers and vessels smoothly as the depth of the harbour is reducing day by day due to lack of maintenance and repairing. Deposit of slit near the Mahanadi river mouth has also compounded the woes of fishermen to ply their trawlers and vessels smoothly.
