Karnataka - Mangalore   

Fishing harbour’s condition ‘satisfies’ EU inspection team

— Photo: R. Eswarraj

ON A MISSION: Bruno Brigaudeau (right) and Telmo Valinhas (centre) of the European Union Commission, accompanied by officials of Fisheries Department and MPEDA, inspecting the Old Bunder fishing harbour in Mangalore on Friday.

MANGALORE: An expert team on hygiene from European Union Commission visited the marine product processing unit and the Old Bunder fishing harbour here on Friday.

The visit assumes significance because any adverse report by the team can lead to a ban on marine product exports to European Union (EU) countries, which are the biggest market for sea food from India. The team first visited a processing unit in Bykampady, which has been approved by the Export Inspection Agency (EIA) of the Government of India. At the harbour, the team, comprising Bruno Brigaudeau (Lead Inspector) and Telmo Valinhas (member), visited the export auction hall and an ice-plant, which is being maintained by a group of mechanised boat owners. The team’s visit augured well for the authorities as the harbour was cleaner than usual. The solid waste had been removed with the help of some workers from Mangalore City Corporation (MCC) in the last couple of days. The Department of Fisheries has provided a 10-hp motor-run four-inch pipeline for maintaining cleanliness. The 600-metre pipeline, with valves at intervals to fix hoses to flush out dirt has been laid within a short time. The officials from Marine Export Development Authority (MPEDA), Department of Fisheries, Karnataka Fisheries Development Board and the MCC had joined force to make the harbour presentable. K.A. Narayan, State coordinator of the MPEDA-promoted Network for Fish Quality Management and Sustainable Fishing (NETFISH) had supervised the cleansing operation.

Mr. Narayan said that it was a matter of pride for the country that it was able to meet the standards prescribed by the EU for sea-food import. Although the team spent less than 30 minutes there, the inspection of the harbour, prompted by a demand by EU that the imported marine products be hygienic throughout, was crucial, he said. The EU had banned sea food from Pakistan and a few other countries owing unhygienic conditions there. Countries such as Sri Lanka had established a name for quality in marine product exports to the EU. India, being a financially and technologically advanced nation, did not want its marine food shipments rejected for any reasons, he said.

Deputy director of the Department of Fisheries Sureshkumar Ullal, its assistant director K. Maheswaran, assistant director of MPEDA V.K. Vijayakumari and Karnataka Fisheries Development Corporation’s managing director K.V. Shetty accompanied the visiting team during inspection.

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