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'MPEDA not included in fisheries board'

K. Venkiteswaran

KOCHI: Sources in the seafood industry here have expressed surprise at the non-inclusion of the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) in the National Fisheries Development Board.

The Union Government had constituted the National Fisheries Development Board based at Hyderabad. The governing body of the board has the Union Agriculture Minister as the chairman and the Ministers of State for Fisheries as the vice-chairman. Including the two, there are 49 members on the governing body, which includes several Government officials and representatives of different organisations.

Sources here said the MPEDA, which has been in existence for more than 30 years and has played a pivotal role in marine exports from the country, does not find a place on the governing body.

When it was announced that the board would be the apex body for all marine activities, the MPEDA authorities had clarified that the authority would remain independent and its functioning would not be affected by the formation of the board.

Also, the order of the Union Government states that the board `shall coordinate activities pertaining to fisheries undertaken by different ministries/departments in the Central Government and also work to improve production, processing, storage, transport and marketing of the products of capture and culture fisheries.' The MPEDA has had a major role in promoting, processing and marketing of marine products abroad, sources here said.

The board was formed to bring professional management to aquaculture.

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