Chennai, Jan. 8 The Centre will allow imports of rare varieties of fish to tap the potential of the ornamental fish sector in the global market, according to Prof K.V. Thomas, Union Minister of State for Food, Agriculture and Consumer Affairs.
The Minister was responding to a plea from the Marine Products' Export Development Authority (MPEDA) Chairperson, Ms Leena Nair, that the Ministry of Agriculture permit import of more exotic fish for breeding in the country, during IndAquaria 2010 inauguration. IndAquaria is a three-day international event for ornamental fish being held here.
An MPEDA official said these fish would be imported for breeding and re-exports. “There is a great demand for ornamental fish in the world and we have immense potential to cater to it. Therefore, we need to do something like Singapore which allows imports of these exotic fish for re-exports,” he said.
Prof Thomas said the Centre had initiated steps to implement various schemes to promote ornamental fish that had a global turnover of $8 billion. “If we take the other things such as equipment, machinery and medicine into account, the turnover in the sector is $18-20 billion,” he said, adding that the country should emerge as a major supplier of ornamental fish.
Currently, the South-East Asian countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines besides Sri Lanka, Israel and the Czech republic are major suppliers of ornamental fish to aquariums world-wide. Europe, Japan and the US are major markets for this.
Under the Rainbow Revolution, 7,200 units will be established with a capacity to produce 500 million fish. “Out of this 300 million will be exported,” he said, adding that ornamental fish has come a long way from being a mere hobby.
The MPEDA Chairperson, Ms Leena Nair, said the ornamental fish sector in the country was growing 20 per cent annually. Though there were 300 fresh water species for exports, the country was unable to cater to specific demands, she said.
In the April-November period of the current fiscal, ornamental fish export had increased 44 per cent, she said.
The Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary, Mr K.S. Sripathi, said the State had launched a study on ornamental fish.
MPEDA has entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Ornamental Fish International to publish the latter's four journals in the country. The Tamil Nadu Fisheries Minister, Mr K.P.P. Sami, released the journals - Biosecurity in the Ornamental Aquatic Industry, Live food cultures for the Ornamental Aquatic Industry, International Transport of Live Fish in the Ornamental Aquatic Industry and Water Quality in the Ornamental Aquatic Industry.
Source : Business Line