The floods in Chennai have forced the Marine Products Export Development Authority to abandon the India International Seafood Show which was to be held at the Chennai Trade Centre from January 22-24.
This comes at a time when India has made huge strides in marine products exports which in 2014-15 were at an all-time high. The biennial seafood show, organised by MPEDA in partnership with the Seafood Exporters’ Association of India, highlights India’s potential in the seafood sector. It is one of the major seafood fairs in Asia.
The show will now be held at Visakhapatnam sometime in the middle of next year.
The 19th edition of the show was held in Chennai in January 2014. The IIFS, which began in 1973 in Mumbai, has emerged as an important platform for stakeholders in the seafood exports sector. Apart from seafood exporters, the show attracts seafood farmers — especially vannamei shrimp producers — manufacturers of processing machines, traders and those engaged in allied sectors.
Sources pointed out that because of the floods, a crucial meeting of the organising committee, scheduled for December 2, could not be held. However, procedural delays and bureaucratic hurdles also contributed to the abandonment of the Chennai fair.