By Debabrata Satpathy, Snowman Logistics, Regional Business Manager, East
The nationwide lockdown to counter the deadly contagion of Coronavirus demanded closure of offices with no or fewer people working. As such, the repercussions of the lockdown were felt by the aquaculture sector as well. According to a report from the Central Institute of Fisheries Technology, the sector has been incurring a daily loss of Rs 224 crore. With a coastline of 8118 km spanning over nine states and four union territories, India’s aquaculture sector contributes to 5.3 per cent of the agricultural GDP. Here are some facts which talk about the impact of lockdown on the aquaculture sector.
Shortage of manpower
Around 90 per cent of the shrimp produced in India is exported and is the single most exported product in the aquaculture business, with its major markets being the US, China, and the European Union. The lockdown had started mid-March, which is a conducive period for shrimps harvesting. The aquaculture farming is a labour-intensive farm practice and since more than 50 per cent of the marine farmers are migrants, the nationwide closure caused them to move to their respective hometowns hence giving a massive shortage of labour.
A slump in exports
The rapid coronavirus deaths in all the major markets have stalled the exports of fisheries in India. Plus, the reduced spending of countries on imports has put a pause on the exports. Before the lockdown, the containers had already set sail with shrimp in early March but now they are stranded either at sea or at the port of arrival.
Lack of Meat cold chain storage
Since the demands are low, there will be an accumulation of seafood inventory. India lacks EIA approved meat and fisheries cold storages, hence leaving the exporters with limited options of storage. To prevent the wastage of seafood produce, the exporters are forced to sell it at 10% less than the original price. The current number of cold storages in India is 7640 with a capacity of 34.9 million tonnes, out of which 68 percent of the cold storages can store only potatoes and the rest 30 percent is for multi-product storage, out of which only 1% is reserved for meat, dairy, and seafood storage.
Scarcity of fish food
West Bengal is the largest fish seed supplier in the country. . Fish seed supply is under stress due to irregularities in transportation. This is eventually causing a spike in the prices of seafood. Fish seed food like corn, soya, de-oiled rice bran, and mustard cake is not available in the market easily due to closures of mandis. Farmers may have stocked only 10% to 15% of fish seeds before lockdown. With less fish seeds in stock the current year will see a drop in fish production resulting in a wide gap in demand and supply.
Damage due to Cyclone Amphan
West Bengal is one of the largest producers of shrimp in the country. According to MPEDA (Marine Products Export Development Authority) in 2017-18, the state had produced 76,534 tonnes of shrimp with 55,211 hectares of land. The fierce winds of Cyclone Amphan destroyed the embankments of the freshwater ponds causing the extreme saline water of Sunderban Mangroves to move in. The ideal amount of salinity required in shrimp cultivation is 12-20 ppm, but the salinity has risen to 35-40 ppm after the cyclone, causing the death of many shrimp larvae.
The government should give aquaculture the same benefits and incentives it gives to crop farming. This would further strengthen the shrimp production and encourage investment in creating our breeding facilities. In turn, it would also reduce our dependence on imports for the primary input.
Going forward it is necessary to stabilize the current conditions especially availability of cold storage combined with logistics support, which remains a key challenge in the perishables sector. Government has to come forward and support the farming community in terms of finance and security. In regards to the market, increasing awareness of shrimp farming in the domestic side will aid the industry with strong demands. This will insulate the industry in dealing with the potential risks and fluctuations of the international market in near future.
