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India hides filthy seafood handling

Small tuna strewn about the 'Indian way' at a Cochin market. (Photo: T. Engoe)

India hides filthy seafood handling

INDIA
Friday, November 23, 2007, 15:50 (GMT + 9)

Cochin, on the Indian Kerala coast, is a dream for any seafood lover. But it is a nightmare for exporters trying to export high quality seafood. A government that seems unable to finish converting Kerala into a world-class production and export site for top quality seafood is in reality hiding the unsanitary treatment of seafood landed at the main auction hall in Cochin, the main seafood harbour on the Kerala coast.

As academics gathered at the 8th Asian Fisheries Forum conference in Cochin from 20 – 23 November this year, FIS.com attempted to enter the large export hall with a camera.

A guard briskly stopped us, however, saying: "Sorry, no camera allowed." The reason given: “Not allowed." We were a bit surprised considering we were in Cochin, as the leading fisheries website promoting the global industry, to meet with seafood representatives. We tried three times on three separate days to gain access with a camera. No luck. The secrets inside had to remain hidden.

Without a camera, we entered the auction area, when delegates at the Asian Fisheries Forum were discussing Harvest & Post harvest technology and Food Safety Quality Assurance at the Meridien Resort and Convention Center nearby. The auction area featured large yellowfin tuna, skip jack tuna, croakers and a number of other high value fish species that had been dragged out from the ship and laid out on a dirty concrete floor with no cooling at all. Cut into pieces, some large fish had flies swarming around. A representative of a Spanish seafood company said after minutes: “I have seen enough, I feel sick.”

Taiwanese fishing vessels ply Indian waters for tuna in a deal that was not made to benefit Indian seafood exporters, but other very different pockets instead. At least the deal keeps the harvested fish from being wasted through the poor conditions of the auction and sale.

Comparing the available data on Indian exports to Japan’s and those of other countries is interesting. It puts India in perspective: the average price paid for the 19,000 tonnes of fresh yellowfin tuna imported last year from India to Japan was JPY 779 (USD 7.18) per kilo. For 524 tonnes of Indian fresh yellowfin tuna, Japanese importers paid only JPY 718 (USD 6.62).

Out of 90,000 tonnes of frozen Indian yellowfin tuna imported by Japan last year at an average price of JPY 341 (USD 3.14) per kilo, only 28 tonnes, – one container – came from India. In other words, last year, the Japanese were not willing to pay more than JPY 155 (USD 1.43) per kilo for Indian tuna.

In Europe, containers of frozen Indian tuna have been rejected on grounds of quality.

Meanwhile, in India, as experts talk to experts at important conferences, the unsanitary practices undertaken by these local seafood businesses are taking place. Further, it is forbidden to use a camera in the main auction hall in Cochin. Obviously, banning the filming of how workers there handle the fish landed and sold is to everyone’s advantage.

Local, regional and central Indian government officials can continue to put their heads in the sand, deny photos were actually taken of Indian seafood auction sites, participate in international conferences as the country’s exporters suffer and valuable seafood is destroyed, and in the last instance rejected as unhealthy, filthy and contaminated by export markets. Or they can simply do their duty and work to transform India into a major global market player, a producer of quality seafood.

"Please show the world what is happening. Reveal what is happening behind the scenes at auction sites here so that the government understands something must be done about these kinds of practices that wreck the business opportunities of serious processors and exporters trying to sell Indian seafood. As exporters, we cannot help it when our seafood is rejected in the most important markets," a seafood company manager commented to FIS.com. He requested that we quote him anonymously so as to avoid any possible trouble that may result from exposing bureaucrats, the world, to the truth behind what is really going on behind the auction curtain.

Related articles:

- Health risks hinder industry
- Tuna 'in taxis' entail problems

By Adnan Sisu
www.fis.com

BRAIN SPIKED BLUE FIN TUNAS