Special Correspondent

VIJAYAWADA: Shrimp and other sea food farmers should register their farms with the Coastal Aquaculture Authority (CAA) by the end of this month or forego the eligibility to export their produce.

Sea food exporters will stop procuring produces from unregistered farms from April 1. In addition to this, shrimp farmers are required to submit antibiotic-free certification issued by the ELISA labs approved by the Marine Products Export Development Authority . The MPEDA has established six ELISA screening labs for the nine coastal districts. MPEDA Deputy Director Saifuddin Anis told The Hindu on Friday that less than half of the 17,000 shrimp farms had registered with the CAA until now.