Govt keen on expanding seafood export

The latest Economic Survey shows the share of marine products in India's export kitty rose by the highest margin over the year among all goods, at 29.5 per cent.

While it has only 2.7 per cent share in overall export, the sector has been upheld by the commerce ministry as holding great potential. Comprising mainly shrimp, prawn and fish, aquatic export was $5.5 billion in 2016-17 and seen two years of growth. In the first seven months (April-October) of the current financial year, it was nearly $4.2 bn.

In this background, the government will prepare over the next three months a plan to double export of marine products, said commerce and industry minister Suresh Prabhu last week. This will include measures to strengthen aquaculture production, potential collaborations, marketing and integration of supply chains, he added.

The government is also focusing on inland fishery, aiming to create a system for all 13 coastal states to work together on this.

“We have stressed special emphasis on marketing initiatives for Indian export,” a senior commerce ministry official said. Buyers from newer markets were targeted at 'Indus Foods', the global food and beverage show organised by the ministry earlier this month in Delhi.

India is also global leader in shrimp supply, overtaking Ecuador, according to a report by Globefish, information and analysis wing on fisheries and aquaculture of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. The report said Indian farmed shrimp production was 500,000 tonnes in 2016. Vannamei shrimp, the most preferred, touched 406,000 tonnes.

America, followed by Southeast Asia and the European Union (EU) have held steady as the largest markets for Indian seafood export. However, domestic producers in America have repeatedly asked their government to initiate anti-dumping probes on Indian traders, for undercutting prices. The American Shrimp Processors Association has named India, along with Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Mexico, China, and Malaysia, among f13 countries with which the US ran a significant shrimp trade deficit in 2016.

In 2017, the United States International Trade Commission also voted to extend earlier anti-dumping orders on import of frozen warm-water shrimp for five more years.