Japanese tsunami could rattle seafood exports industry

The tsunami that wreaked havoc in Japan last week is set to rock the $2-billion Indian seafood export industry. The North-Eastern city of Sendai in Japan, the epicentre of the quake and tsunami, was a bustling city full of seafood factories and processing units with which Indian exporters had direct links, Mr Anwar Hashim, President of the Seafood Exporters Association of India (SEAI), said.

While admitting that seafood exports to Sendai would be immediately affected, Mr Hashim pointed out that the impact on other export destinations such as Tokyo and Osaka has been on a far lower scale and trade with these destinations could revive faster. For the moment, all trade and commerce with Japan could come to a halt.

The impact in India would be most on shrimp farmers off the coast of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Orissa and West Bengal. Black tiger shrimps which are reared and harvested by these coastal farmers are much in demand and the major constituent of seafood exports to Japan. Frozen large de-veined black tiger shrimps are a high-value delicacy in Japanese markets fetching high returns to the Indian farmer and the exporter.

The setback for Indian seafood exports comes on the back of recession in Europe, the biggest seafood export destination for India, appreciation in the value of the rupee against the euro and the economic collapse of Greece, Spain and Portugal. However, export figures for April-December 2010 suggest that Europe was still able to retain the top slot accounting for 26.14 per cent of the total seafood export realisation.

Japan was the third most important export destination after the US and accounted for 15.12 per cent of the country's total seafood exports in value. Frozen shrimp continues to be the major item in the export basket accounting for 48.61 per cent of the total foreign exchange earnings. Not only does shrimp export fetch high returns but unit value realisation from these exports has also been rising. During the first nine months of the current fiscal unit value realisation from shrimp exports have risen by over 25 per cent.

Much of the black tiger aquaculture and exports is pursued along the East Coast of India. Although exports to Japan are also dominated by exporters from the East Coast, the biggest players are from West Bengal, sources in SEAI said. While seafood exports for the current year are not likely to be immediately affected, the next could year could start on a sour note, the sources warned. And they pointed out that revival of exports to Japan could take two to three months.

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