Bhubaneswar, Feb 26 (IANS): Dhamara harbour in Odisha's Bhadrak district has been approved by a government inspection agency for export of fishery products to European countries, an official said Thursday.

This is the first harbour in the state to have received the approval for export of fishery products, state's fisheries and animal resources department commissioner-cum-secretary Bishnupada Sethi told IANS.

The Export Inspection Agency (EIA) office at Kolkata has granted the approval and communicated it to the state government Wednesday, he said.

The European Union (EU) has made it mandatory for harbours to be certified by different government agencies including EIA for export of fishery products.

EIA has fixed certain standards in packing, storage facilities and on-the-site hygienic conditions at harbours, he said.

In 2013-14, Odisha produced 414,000 tonnes of fish, out of which 31 thousand tonnes, valued at Rs.1,817 crore, were exported to Japan, the US, EU, China, South East Asia and Middle East mainly through Visakhapatnam and Kolkata ports, Sethi said.