A new laboratory to conduct tests for sea food processors and exporters to confirm product safety as per international requirements was on Saturday opened in the coastal town of Porbandar in Gujarat, a State with largest marine products exports in the country.
The facility has been set up by the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA), formed in 1972 under the Union Ministry of Commerce, a coordinating agency with Central and State-level establishments engaged in fishery production and allied activities.
“Inaugurated by MPEDA Chairman K.S. Srinivas, the new facility is equipped with advanced testing instruments such as ICP MS and LC MSMS to analyse antibiotic residues, heavy-metals such as cadmium, lead, mercury and arsenic in seafood samples and Histamine in fish like tuna and mackerel,” an MPEDA release stated.
“Gujarat has relatively low instances of antibiotic residue in seafood exports, yet a number of cephalopod consignments are rejected overseas due to the presence of heavy metals, mainly cadmium. This prompted the MPEDA to set up QC lab in Porbandar to test seafood samples,” Mr. Srinivas said.
Second to T.N.
It may be noted that Gujarat comes second only to Tamil Nadu in marine fish landings, contributing 7.49 lakh tonnes in 2019, as per Central government data.
The State is also making strides in shrimp farming, producing 73,842 tonnes of the product (from 9,709 hectares) and 1,890 tonnes of scampi.
In the year 2019-20, Gujarat exported 27,9750 tonnes of seafood worth ₹5019.49 crore. The major export items from the State are frozen fin fish, frozen cephalopods, dried items and frozen shrimp in terms of quantity while value-wise, fish is the principal item for exports.
Gujarat’s major markets for seafood exports are China, the European Union, the South-East Asia, Japan and the U.S. The State is also a major exporter of surimi to markets, primarily Japan.
Lab in Odisha
The MPEDA also inaugurated its refurbished Quality Control Laboratory at Nayapalli in Odisha’s capital city of Bhubaneswar, ensuring high-precision tests using state-of-the-art equipment that can also detect banned antibiotics.
“To guarantee quality seafood for world-wide export to consumers conscious of health and quality, the MPEDA has set up labs also at Bhimavaram and Nellore [both in Andhra Pradesh] and Bhubaneswar and at the headquarters in Kochi [Kerala],” stated the release.
These labs have facilities to test seafood samples for heavy metals, dyes, pesticides and antibiotic residues using advanced technology. Also, MPEDA has established 12 ELISA screening labs for monitoring residues of banned antibiotics from primary production to processing plants for export.
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