Ambassador of Iceland, Thorir Ibsen has assured the State Government that his country would extend all cooperation for development of fisheries sector in Odisha.
Ibsen assured this while holding discussions with senior officers of the Fisheries and Animal Resources Development Department (FARD) here on Friday.
Agriculture Production Commissioner (APC) Gagan Kumar Dhal chaired the meeting, which told Ibsen about the prospects of fishery development and expansion.
FARD Secretary Vishal Gagan and Fishery Director Bijaya Kumar Upadhyay, the president of the Sea Food Exporters Association of India, (Odisha Region), SEAI representatives and UCCI functionaries were present, among others.
Dhal emphasised on the possible cooperation between Iceland and India that can help establish a positive approach for developing fisheries sector in Odisha. He elaborated the State Government’s vision to promote fisheries and sea food exports.
Secretary Gagan stated that the State Government is taking proactive steps to scale up the present level of sea food exports with possible technical expertise from the Iceland.
SEAI President Prof Kamlesh Mishra and UCCI DG Rajen Padhi also appraised the Ambassador about the possible cooperations with Iceland in boosting the seafood exports in Odisha.
Ibsen too gave out a detailed overview of the marine fisheries of his country, which is, though very small in geographic area and population, way ahead with fisheries in respect to exploitation of marine resources, its value addition and conservation measures for sustained production.
He informed that sustainable and responsible fisheries are the hallmark of Icelandic fishing industry.
The fisheries management in Iceland is based on extensive research on the fish stocks and the marine ecosystem and biodiversity and decisions on “allowable catches” are made on the basis of scientific advice from the Icelandic Marine Research Institute. According to Icelandic law, discards are prohibited and all catches must be landed.
In 2015, the export of marine products from Iceland amounted to 1.8 billion Euro.
He assured all possible cooperation in promoting upgradation in technologies for qualitative improvements in seafood export, exploration of untapped deep-sea fisheries resources, and stock assessment of individual species for sustained harvest.
After discussions, the Ambassador met Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment and FARD Minister Damodar Rout. They talked about technology transfer to boost exports by value addition and food processing.