Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jul 11, 2007
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Online edition of India's National Newspaper Wednesday, Jul 11, 2007 ePaper |
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Tamil Nadu
Special Correspondent
Certification authority will certify hatcheries, aqua farms and processing plants The west coast is ideal for developing an integrated farming system
CHENNAI: There is need for a code of conduct for responsible aquaculture and the establishment of Aquaculture Certification Authority, E.G. Silas, former Vice-Chancellor of Kerala Agricultural University, and founder-director of the Central Institute of Brackishwater Aquaculture (CIBA), said on Tuesday. The proposed body would certify hatcheries, aqua farms and processing plants, besides creating a system of traceability throughout the production chain. Now, institutions such as the Marine Products Export Development Authority were looking only at certain segments in the chain. But, certification at all links would be necessary. There should be a nodal body to which agencies or organisations could be accredited for carrying out the tasks in view of the vastness of the country and the diversity of operations. Dr. Silas was inaugurating a two-day workshop on brackish water aquaculture production systems and environmental management organised by the CIBA and the Coastal Aquaculture Society of India. Meeting safety requirements and standards at all the stages of production would help to turn out high-quality and safe aquaculture products in eco-friendly conditions. New and small-scale shrimp and fish farmers should be sensitised through extension programmes. Referring to the growing interest in organic aquaculture, Dr. Silas, who also headed the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI), said it had already been taken up in Vietnam, Israel, Peru, Chile, Ecuador and New Zealand for species such as mussel, tiger shrimp and white shrimp. Promoting this needed universal standards and certification. Pointing out that statistics and common sense required enhancing productivity of aqua farms through good management practices, he said the extent to which new brackish water aquaculture ponds could be opened along the country’s east coast was debatable. It might not be proper to take a decision on potential new areas merely on the basis of satellite imageries and one-time soil and water sampling. Dr. Silas said aquaculture along the west coast — in Kerala, Maharashtra, Goa and south Maharashtra — accounted for 8,960 tonnes of shrimp production as against 1.2 lakh tonnes in the east coast. The west coast was ideal for developing an integrated farming system — crop (rice, coconut and vegetable), livestock (cattle, goat, piggery and poultry) and fish (shrimp, finfish and prawns). M. Sakthivel, president of the foundation, urged the CIBA to establish a brackish aquaculture technology park to provide technical support to shrimp farmers. Several hatcheries and farms were being closed down, as the farmers did not have the right knowledge to tackle the problems they faced.
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