MPEDA knocks State govts for regulations in marine act

Kolkata: The Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) is pushing for necessary reforms in marine products act with state governments that will facilitate lifting of the ban by United States imposed two years earlier to make India more responsible toward turtle prevention, an official said.

Some 15 per cent of total shrimps' exports from India had been impacted due to the ban by the US on import of sea caught shrimps from India. In India, law and order and fishing regulations are state subjects and are governed by respective local governments. The ban is only on sea shrimps (catch shrimps) as they are presumed to be caught by vessels without using turtle excluder devices (TED).

There is no issue with farmed shrimps' exports. "We are progressing well in dialogue to get the ban lifted. Now state governments will have to show their eagerness in strengthening laws against the offenders of turtle regulations. In the last two years, a lot of progress had been achieved in implementing fitting turtle excluder devices and almost all trawlers are fitted with such devices. But the USA wants India to strengthen the act," a senior MPEDA official told PTI.

"We have written to the state governments including West Bengal to take necessary steps in modifying marine fishing regulations to facilitate us to take final remedial action to lift the ban which is hitting the country's forex earning," he said.

Some southern states and West Bengal is hit with the ban as all sea catch shrimps exports had stopped. In West Bengal alone loss is valued at Rs 1,500-2,000 crore a year. During 2019-20, around 88,264 tonne of frozen shrimp were exported from Bengal to other countries. It fetched Rs 4615.44 crore. The other markets are European countries, Japan and China.