‘Complete Vizag harbour modernisation by 2025’

Visakhapatnam: Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry Parshottam Rupala has called for higher fishmeal production similar to shrimp culture and efforts to explore high demand in the export market.

The Union Minister reviewed the progress on converting Visakhapatnam Fishing Harbour into a world-class fishing harbour with the officials of Visakhapatnam Port Authority (VPA) and others and directed them to complete it within the stipulated deadline of October, 2025. The project is under implementation after it was sanctioned under the Central Government’s Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) at a total cost of Rs 151.81 crore under convergence mode.

Rupala also interacted with the fisherman associations and advised them to coordinate with VPA to identify the areas/components that are required in the revamped fishing harbour. While chairing the 10th Governing Body Meeting organised by National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB) here, he said the policy should be reworked to explore the possibility of developing infrastructure for fish meal, deep-sea fishing, boats, traditional processing units and seed requirements.

According to a release issued by PIB, infrastructure through schemes under the fisheries sector with the technical support of NFDB needs to be sped up by the respective States. Especially in the States of Haryana and Maharashtra, for establishing fish markets for better domestic marketing technical support of NFDB has to be rendered.

Dr Seediri Appalaraju, Minister of Fisheries, Andhra Pradesh, S Mankal Vaidya, Minister of Fisheries and Ports, Karnataka and Fisheries officials of Tripura, Uttarakhand and Punjab participated in the meeting.

Rupala appreciated NFDB as one of the best national level organisation and applauded its contribution, activities and dedication. He said that with limited staff strength NFDB has carved a niche as a part of the Ministry for Fisheries.