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Better mgmt practices enhance shrimp culture value chain, say experts
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Wednesday, 04 September, 2019, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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Our Bureau, Mumbai
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Noting that India has a huge responsibility as a major seafood producer, experts at an international conference on marine products stressed the need for better management practices to make a smooth route to certification, improve the value chain of shrimp culture and secure exports.
They were speaking at a session titled Certification and Traceability, on the sidelines of Aqua Aquaria India 2019, a showpiece event of Asia’s aquaculture sector, at Hitex Exhibition Centre, which tool place in Hyderabad recently. The event is an initiative of Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) under the commerce ministry.
Chris Hauton of the School of Ocean and Earth Science, University of Southampton, UK, made a presentation on Regulating pond environment to maximise shrimp health, in which he stated that better management practices were the best way to manage crop health and avoid the need for chemical treatment.
According to him, close awareness of the pond conditions can help to reduce the risk of disease, and use of chemical treatment.
“In a changing climate, we should perhaps expect emerging diseases, and the spread of existing diseases to become more harmful. In the short term, we need to adopt a different approach and think more holistically about the pond environment,” Hauton said, adding that pond management iwas for crop health and not for disease eradication.
Yahira Piedrahita, executive director, National Chamber of Aquaculture, Ecuador, in her talk on food safety and traceability, pointed out that India also had a huge responsibility to supply safe seafood products to local and foreign consumers.
Stating that 68 per cent of Ecuador’s total seafood export was to China, she pointed out that quality control and traceability are inevitable requirements for trade.
“Quality institutions are required, both in the public and the private sectors in India, to manage the risks and enjoy the benefits,” Piedrahita said.
“Trade in seafood products offers a way for farmers, processors and traders in developing countries to increase their incomes and boost economic development. But despite the potential, they face many challenges. Limited capacity to meet food safety requirements is often one of the major obstacles,” she added.
The expert said domestic seafood regulation should ensure that standards were based on risk analysis using the best, most up-to-date and robust scientific advice.
“The responsibility of traceability system is to identify and document information on products in the food chain. The system monitors production, processing and distribution of food and feed products to ensure that operators have traceability system in place,” she added.
Commenting that traceability is an important component of food safety management strategy along value chains, Piedrahita said in many developing countries, the fragmentation of supply chains created significant challenges to achieving traceability.
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