The Kerala State Coastal Area Development Corporation (KSCADC), an initiative of the Fisheries Department, has garnered export orders worth ₹49.5 lakh of value-added fish products from the United States, Canada, New Zealand and Australia.
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The documents relating to the shipment of two containers of products were received by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Fisheries Minister Shri Saji Cherian. The documents were handed over by Anas K K, Managing Director of IAN Overseas Pvt Ltd, the export merchants firm through which the export is being executed.
With this, Kerala has set a model with a state agency exporting marine products to global markets, leveraging the upfront policy framework of the state government.
The project seeks to scale up entrepreneurial and employment opportunities in the State’s fisheries sector by promoting export of its own brand of dried fish, frozen fish and a variety of other marine products worth ₹10 to ₹100 crore.
Last year, KSCADC had shipped 12 items of value-added fish to these countries as sample consignments and they received high ratings for quality, processing methods and packaging. Niche markets like UAE, UK and Europe have also expressed keen interest in having the processed and value-added items from KSCADC.
The items going into the shipment were processed and packaged by KSCADC’s solar-powered Fish Processing Centre (FPC) at Sakthikulangara near Kollam, fully adhering to international standards relating to quality and energy.