KOLKATA: With an eye on exporting an array of fishes to various foreign countries, including Dubai, Japan and China, West Bengal has categorized fisheries sector as a ''sunrise sector'', thereby providing investment opportunities in areas of fish production, fish exports, fish processing and fish tourism.
State Fisheries Department has got a whopping order of around Rs 900 crore to export the species to these countries. ''This is for the first time that the fisheries department has taken up such a unique initiative that will not only create a market for Bengal's fishes in the foreign countries, but also help develop the financial condition of the State's fishermen,'' according to State Fisheries Minister Chandranath Sinha. ''To meet the ongoing demands of fishers in the international market, the department is setting up processing units with modern facilities at Nalban in Salt Lake and at Henry Island in South 24-Parganas,'' he added. The fishes that would be exported to the foreign countries will be processed and packed in these units. The State Fisheries Development Corporation has increased the fish production in the State by a record margin, and pisciculture is being carried out in most of the stated-owned ponds and water bodies.
Source: Dailyshippingtimes.com
