CHENNAI: It’s a life-changing decision, says 41-year-old K Velankanni, a fisherwoman from Nambikkai Nagar in Pattinapakkam, who floated her own company that converts fish waste into value-added products, and made a turnover of Rs 13 lakh in just one year. Until 2018, Velankanni used to sell fish that her husband nets, to eke out a living.
“Monthly income was very irregular as the fish catch is not something one can guarantee. On average, we earned around Rs 10,000-Rs 15,000 per month. It was not sufficient and forced us to take loans at higher interest rates. I have two daughters, one in class 9 and the other in class 7, and they deserved better education and future.
A window of opportunity opened when the Central Institute of Brackish Aquaculture (CIBA) invited us for training on how to convert fish waste into wealth, and I decided to give it a shot,” Velankanni tells Express. After completing the training successfully, Nambikkai Fish Farmers Group was formed, and CIBA established the “Fish Waste Processing Unit” on February 18, 2019.
“From then on, our lives changed forever. We bring 200- 300 kg of fish waste from nearby markets daily, process it afresh, and convert it into value added products. CIBA helped us brand and market the products. We started getting orders from Kerala, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, and West Bengal, which helped us grow bigger. After testing enough waters and tasting success, Velankanni decided to become an entrepreneur and floated her own firm on December 2, 2019, a micro- level enterprise called “VS Fish Waste Hydrolysate”. Our company has GST number and will be filing IT returns, gleams Velankanni’s proud husband T Kennit Raj, who is leading the Nambikkai Fish Farmers Group.
The group has produced 16.345 tonnes of Plankton Plus and 0.82 tonnes of Horti Plus and received Rs13.07 lakhs (from May 2019 to July 2020). Even during the Covid-19 pandemic, they managed to earn around Rs2 lakh. CIBA director KK Vijayan tells, the technology was developed under the Swachh Bharat initiative of the Government of India. “We often find stinking fish wastes dumped on the seashore and in fish markets, causing environmental pollution and discomfort to the people living in the area.
We decided to develop a technology that would convert this waste into ‘wealth’. The products – Plankton Plus and Horti Plus – have been tested for their efficiency and efficacy in aquaculture and horticulture through a series of experiments in the yard, as well as in farms, and showed promising performance after which we reached out to potential beneficiaries.” For example, Plankton Plus is used in aquaculture to boost and maintain the healthy plankton blooms, while Horti Plus is used as organic manure in horticulture, the official says.
P Mahalakshmi, principal scientist of engineering cell at CIBA, says though the training was imparted to about 150 people from 2015, only Nambikkai Fish Farmers Group made the best use of it, which in return, transformed their lives. “This technology of CIBA has the potential in cleaning the fish markets and providing alternative livelihoods to many across the country,” she explains. The group is recognised as the “Best Fisheries Self Help Group 2020” by the National Fisheries Development Board. Kennit Raj received the award from Union Minister of Fisheries Pratap Chandra Sarangi on the occasion of World Fisheries Day last month.