Fishmeal units face the heat as tsunami hits Japan

However, the suspension of production cannot be described as “closed” because fishmeal production is a seasonal activity, according to industry sources.

The tsunami has added another blow to the dull fishmeal industry already struggling with scarce and sporadic fish landing, rising prices and in recent times, a super moon-struck labour force migration that had abandoned the units to head home, they said.

The Japanese demand rises when the market here (September to January) is dull. “There is considerable exposure to Japan market, which is good and can fetch good prices for quality fishmeal. If the Japan demand is absent, units here have to suspend production,” the sources said.

A representative of a Mangalore-based company that has a turnover of Rs. 6 crore from Japan alone said that its business contacts in Japan told them that recovery could be expected in the second half of 2012. Since our fishmeal is used in aquaculture and as poultry feed and the feed companies are located in northern Japan, many must have been wiped out.

“There is no livestock, no farms, and no poultry. Infrastructure and ports have been damaged. For the time being, there are no exports,” he said.

“Mangalore's fishmeal industry has been affected by the tsunami, but the effect is yet to be felt. Units in Mangalore will find alternative uses but there is an impact. Other markets may not buy them,” said Mohammed Haris, secretary, Indian Fishmeal and Fish Oil Exporters' Association and partner of Mukka Seafood Industries, who had sent fishmeal to Japan three months ago. He said that 5,000 to 10,000 tonnes of fishmeal and 2,000 to 3,000 tonnes of fish oil per annum were exported to Japan.

Pramod Madhwaraj, proprietor of Raj Fishmeal and Oil Company, has sent 200 tonnes of fishmeal to other Japanese ports five days before the tsunami.

He said: “We have not yet felt the impact. We can't say much now as the vessel is still on its voyage”.

He had exported to Sendai two years ago but had no exports to that city now.

Fishmeal from Mangalore reaches Japan via Colombo in 20 to 25 days. It is used indirectly as the main ingredient in aquaculture and poultry feed as easily-digestible protein.

It has a shelf life of six months beyond which it turns lumpy and rancid.

Raw material availability depends on the forces of nature such as temperature, water current and wind direction. Unlike agriculture, where what is sown can be reaped, fishmeal depends on “the bounty of the sea”, said an industry expert.

The world's top three fishmeal consumers are China, U.S. and Japan. Japan buys 75 per cent of its requirements from Chile and 25 per cent from Asia, of which 15 per cent is from India.