According to Minister of Fisheries Babubhai Bokhiriya, the step will facilitate deep-sea catch of export-quality fish and its safe storage on board.

After laying the foundation for the State's biggest fishing harbour today, to be built with Rs 34 crore aid from the Central Government at Jakhau, Bokharia told The Indian Express that since the export from the State to Japan and Europe had stopped on grounds of hygiene, Gujarat would be the first in the country to build GRP boats with bacteria-free storage facility on board.

Besides, he said, the boats would have fish finders and other gadgets to warn fishermen of international maritime boundaries, so they can avoid straying into Pakistani waters.

He said talks were on with a United Kingdom company for transfer of technology for GRP boatswhich would cost around Rs 1 crore each in view of the high cost of labour and other material. A preliminary survey is over and a team of experts would leave for the United Kingdom for an on-the-spot study.

The ban by Japan and some Western countries on Indian fish has led to a fall in demand, but the catch had been on the rise in the State, Bokhiriya said.

Fisheries and Ports Secretary A D Desai said the Jakhau fishing terminal project was taken up in 1990 with Central aid of Rs 11 crore. The project got environmental clearance last year and work on a 1,260-metre wall, slipping yard, auction hall, parking slots for boats was likely to be over by October 2000.

Meanwhile, the fishing season has began at Jakhau village and boats from Saurashtra and South Gujarat coasts are arriving at the port, which had produced 47,526 tonnes of fish worth Rs 69 crore last year. The village is inhabited by 736 fishermen.