Seafood park will come up at Baindoor: Karnataka Minister Vaidya

Mangaluru: Minister of fisheries, ports and inland water transport Mankal S Vaidya said that a seafood park will come up at Baindoor at a cost of Rs 100 crore.

The fish catch in the region can be processed at the seafood park for exporting it and also using it domestically, which in turn will benefit the fishermen of the region, he said after inaugurating national fish farmers day and workshop on BYGFISH (strategies for bridging the yield gap in fisheries and aquaculture) 2.0 organised by the Karnataka Veterinary, Animal and Fisheries University, Fisheries College and Fisheries department here on Saturday.

A training centre will come up at Manki in Uttara Kannada. To promote inland fishing, fish seed farm and rearing centre on 13 acre land will be upgraded at Alamatti at a cost of Rs 25 crore. Further, a skill development centre will also be set up at Alamatti at a cost of Rs 10 crore.

Fish market

The fisheries department will build a state- of -the art fish market complex in Hebbal, Bengaluru at an estimated cost of Rs 50 crore. The fish market will come up on three acre land belonging to the department of animal husbandry. In addition to the fish market complex, the department will also build an office complex for the fisheries department at an estimated cost of Rs 20 crore. All these development projects aimed at supplementing the growth of the fisheries sector in the state.

Fisheries university

The minister said the government will convert the College of Fisheries into an independent University in a phased manner. As Karnataka has only one Fisheries College, it is difficult to announce a university. The setting up of the skill development centre, training centre in various parts of the state aimed to supplement the process of setting up a university, he explained.

The state government has written to all the nationalised banks and central government on Rs 3 lakh interest free loans for the fisherwomen and has sought the support from the banks in implementing it, he added.

Uniform policy

Stressing the need for uniform policy for fisheries in the country, he said “the state government alone can not take a decision on the size of the nets, bull trawling, capacity of the engine to be used in the fishing boats and so on. It has to be taken at the national level for the benefit of all the fishermen in the country,” he added.

Karnataka Veterinary, Animal and Fisheries Sciences University, Bidar Vice Chancellor Dr K C Veeranna said the central government has set a production target of 22 million metric tonnes of fish by 2025 by announcing various schemes.

He appealed to the minister to get sanction from the finance department to fill the vacant posts of teaching and non teaching faculties at the College of Fisheries.

Financial aid under Matsyashraya scheme, Sankashta parihara nidhi, ice box of 50 litre capacity for fresh fish, giant crate for dry fish storage were distributed through the fisheries department to the selected fishermen on the occasion.