Journal of the Marine Biological Association of India

Problems and programmes for Post-harvest Technology Development in fisheries.

Volume 25 Issue 1&2

M. R. Nair

Abstract

The pattern of disposal of fish catch in the country has changed considerably owing to rapied strides in building up of infrastructure! facilities for handling, transportation and processing offish adequately supported by evolution of required technological base by research and development. For the development of an export market, the strongest support is to be provided by a properly organised domestic market which is the missing part in the Indian Sea Food Industry. The idle capacity of the commercial processing plants can profitably be utilised for freezing of pomfrets, ribbonfish, eel, perch, sciaenids, cuttlefish, etc. which have already met with demand from domestic as well as foreign markets. Diversified canned products from clams, mussels, crab, oysters, cephalopods, tuna in flavoured oil have good prospects both for internal market and abroad. Edible meat picked from mixed varieties of cheap fishes and frozen into blocks as 'fish kheema' has become popular as cutlet base and for incorporation into several products like fish soup powder, fish wafers, fish spirals, fish sausages, pet food, etc. either as such or after partial hydrolysis and deodorisation. Processes are developed for economic utilization of prawnshell waste from prawn processing plants and these would include preparation of protein concentrate in paste form and conversion of the remaining material into chitosan which has varied applications like sizing of paper and textile, clarification of wine, purification of water and as a general industrial flocculant

Date : 30-12-1983