Padmavati Prabhu
Panaji
Southeast Asia remains the top destination for Goa’s seafood, handling 83% of the state’s total fish exports, followed by China with 8%.
During the last financial year, a total of 45,469 tonnes of fish was exported from Goa, of which 37,779 tonnes was exported to the South East Asian countries, followed by China with 3,531 tonnes, Middle East with 1,824 tonnes and European Union with 1,279 tonnes.
Fish exporters from Goa said that most of the fish exported from Goa is to South East Asian countries like Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia, among others. Most of the times, it is mackerels and squids, while squids, ribbon fish and cuttle fish are exported to China. “Almost 35-40% of the fish is exported from Goa,” said Fisheries Director Shamila Monteiro.
Atlas Fisheries Private Limited Managing Director Estevan D’Souza said that mackerels and squids have lot of demand in Southeast Asian countries while squids and ribbon fish are exported to China. He however said that the fish export from Goa has decreased gradually compared to earlier years.
Navjeet Poojary, the owner of Goan Bounty informed that they export mackerels and squids to Thailand, while ribbon fish, cuttle fish and squids are exported to China.
“The exports mainly begin with the fish landing season from mid-August and the peak season is till November. However, this year it was delayed and began in September but ended by the end of November. Presently, it is almost negligible,” he said.
He said that fish exports may have reduced due to decrease in fish production which could be attributed to various factors like bull trawling, LED fishing, overfishing, etc.
