Karnataka recorded an appreciable catch of
1,00,179 t of oil sardine in 2007. The boom in
oil sardine landings has lead to the establishment of
a new fish meal plant at Baithkol landing centre of
Karwar which became functional in March, 2008
(Fig. 1). The Karnataka Fisheries Development
Board has leased out the fish meal plant to a private
company, Sai Annapoorna Bio-Protein Private Ltd.
The products manufactured by the fish meal plant
are fish oil and fish meal powder. They supply fish
oil to CP Aquamarine which exports the fish oil to
south-east Asian countries such as Vietnam and
Thailand. The fish meal powder is used as prawn
feed and it is procured and marketed by CP
Aquamarine. The company procures fish from
Mangalore to Goa from boat owners and agents. The
average supply of fish is 200 t/day. The company
processes only oil sardine (Sardinella longiceps) for
the manufacture of fish meal and fish oil
