The Hindu : Business / Briefly : Tuna, a potential forex resource

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Friday, Nov 02, 2007
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Business - Briefly

Tuna, a potential forex resource

R. Ramabhadran Pillai

It is endangered in the Mediterranean

Campaign launched by Greenpeace activists
India can become a major exporter
of tuna

KOCHI: It may be a sign of the times. Tuna is considered a potential export resource in the country but finds itself in troubled waters in the Mediterranean.

The environmental organisation Greenpeace deems tuna fishing in the Mediterranean an inimical act. But the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) of India is looking at tuna in the Indian coastal waters as a potential resource for exports.

While the authority is evolving strategies to net the fish, the Greenpeace activists have launched a campaign to save the fish in the Mediterranean Sea.

The resource potential of tuna in the Indian Exclusive Economic Zone, spread over 2-million sq. km, is estimated at 2.13-lakh tonnes. The harvest has increased from 38,000 tonnes in 2004 to 50,000 tonnes in 2006. Exports were of the order of 16,627 tonnes in 2005-06.

Data on availability

Mapping and technology for transmission of data on availability of tuna are expected to transform the tuna-fishing sector. Once the resources are exploited, India can become a major exporter of tuna and tuna products, MPEDA officials say.

India exports tuna products to southeast and West Asia. The European Union, Japan and the U.S. have shown interest in importing the fish. Yellow-fin, big-eye and skipjack varieties of tuna are found in the Indian coastal waters, mostly for a period starting October.

The Indian tuna is available in various value-added forms, such as fillets, steaks, loins and ‘sashmi’ grade. A Vision Document prepared by the MPEDA envisages export of tuna estimated at $6 million by 2015.

Exploitation of tuna resources is one of the focus areas for achieving the target. Catching tuna needs expertise and special fishing gear. Fishing vessels have to be equipped with suitable equipment. During 2006-07, 47 vessels were converted into ‘monofilament long-lining system’ enabling them to catch tuna, MPEDA officials say. Tuna export increased by 90 per cent that year from that in the previous year. The authority has hired the services of an expert from Australia to train Indian fishermen in tuna long-lining and onboard handling. Regional workshops on value-added products of tuna are being organised by the MPEDA. The authority has also established a society called Netfish Network, with headquarters in Kochi, to carry the message of fish quality and environmental conservation to the grassroots level. With these measures, it expects a quantum jump in the exports of tuna products.

B. Madhusoodana Kurup, Professor, School of Industrial Fisheries, Cochin University of Science and Technology, supports the task. Tunas move fast and a special skill is required to catch them; it is an untapped resource in Kerala, he says.

While this is the Indian scenario, the blue-fin tuna is nearing commercial and ecological extinction in the Mediterranean. Greenpeace has published a report titled ‘Where have all the tuna gone?’

Overexploitation has endangered the species. Blue-fin tuna in the Mediterranean is being driven to the brink of extinction by unscrupulous fishing piracy and ineffective management, the report says.

It highlights the need for urgent measures to improve and enforce fisheries regulations and protect breeding grounds.

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