Europe eateries shut, fish pile up in storages

RAJKOT: Fish of all varieties and sizes,estimated to be worth nearly Rs 1,000 crore, has piled up in cold storages of Gujarat, mostly the coastal town of Veraval, as restaurants and hotels in Covid-hit Europe yet to start fully-fledged.
The storages are running out of space to store high-value fish such as cuttlefish, pomfret as well as lobsters and jumbo shrimps, which are highly savoured in the European countries.
Even as countries like Spain, Italy and France have permitted restaurants and cafés to open, the exports have hit a roadblock with large number of orders getting cancelled.
Kenny Thomas, an exporter from Veraval, said, “Many buyers cancelled their orders due to worldwide lockdown. A few consignments were shipped for sale in supermarkets of European countries, but as the restaurant and hotels are closed, exports have been hit.”
According to exporters, there are very few buyers in the domestic market for high-value fish varieties some of which cost as high as to Rs 2,000 per kg
Jagdish Fofandi, president of All India Sea Food Exporters Association said, “June is the end of fishing season and all the exporters clear their stock from the cold storages. However, this is the first time that such a massive stock is still lying in store.” Cold storages can store up to 30% of the fish produce only.
Meanwhile, China has started exploiting the situation by dictating all-time low prices on several fish varieties. China has been importing low-value fish which cost around Rs 400-Rs 500 per kg. “Knowing that exports to Europe have been stalled, Chinese importers are refusing to pay as per earlier rates,” said Fofandi, who is also one of the big exporters in Veraval. “The price of cuttlefish and croaker fish has been slashed to half by Chinese buyers, which has dealt a jolt to exporters.”
There are nearly 100 fish processing factories in Veraval which process fish from Porbandar, Jakhau, Rajpara (Una), Navabandar, Okha and Mangrol towns also.
30k fishermen return without advance pay
Fishing activity at Gujarat’s coast has been shut ever since the lockdown started. According to the fishermen association, nearly 30,000 migrant fishermen of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and south Gujarat have returned to their natives, a month before the season officially ended. Tulsi Gohil, president of Akhil Gujarat Machchimar Maha Mandal said, “We generally pay advance to the fishermen before the end of the season in June, but this year we don’t have money to pay them. The maintenance of one boat costs Rs 3 to 4 lakh which is done during monsoon. We demand a relief package for small fishermen from the government.”