India’s seafood exports seem to have missed the $ 6 billion target in FY16 mainly because of global volatilities, anomalies in aquaculture production and depletion of ocean catches.

The sector ended up with only $4.5 billion worth marine exports in dollar terms against the $5.5 billion registered FY15. In rupee terms, it registered only ₹29,000 crore against the previous fiscal’s ₹33,000 crore.

Provisional figures available with Marine Products Exports Development Authority (MPEDA) says that there was also a drop in quantity terms, as the figure stood at 9.25 lakh tonnes against 10.5 lakh achieved in the previous financial year.

Attributing global recession, low catch, currency fluctuations as reasons for the dismal performance, MPEDA sources said that the agency would soon come out with the final statistics in marine products exports after compiling the figures received from other centres.

V.Padmanabhan, National President of the Seafood Exporters Association told Business Line that “the figures may not be encouraging compared to the previous year. However, there is no need for a concern, as exports in most of the sectors are on a downward curve due to compelling international factors. Marine products exports are in a better state comparatively”.

Citing slowdown in European markets and last year’s floods and cyclones in Tamil Nadu and Andhra for the gloomy performance, he told Business Line that inclement weather has considerably affected aquaculture production, which constitutes a major chunk of India’s seafood export basket. This has resulted in the declining of unit price of shrimps especially Vannamei varieties, impacting turnover of several seafood companies. The dwindling catch from the sea due to climatic changes, over fishing also added fuel to the problem.    

According to Padmanabhan, the rise in production cost is a major threat to farmed shrimps in the country. He urged the government to take stringent action against unauthorised hatcheries, which supply low quality seeds to farmers, as it considerably contributed a drop in production in aquaculture farms especially in the East Coast.  

However, he is confident of increasing the aquaculture output at the highest level especially with the active support extended by the Union Commerce Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman and the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, N.Chandrababu Naidu in solving the issues of various stakeholders including quarantines, multiplication centres hatcheries, exporters, feed manufacturers, farmers etc.

Andhra Pradesh, he said, is preparing an action plan with time line in co-ordination with SEAI and other departments responsible to implement them. A committee is being constituted to develop a strategy and action plan covering all types of fish/shrimp for integrated development considering both short term and long term, he said.

Referring to the depletion of ocean catch resources, he said SEAI is taking up the matter with Union Agriculture and Commerce Ministries for the enforcement of a Fisheries Conservation Policy to enable a sustainable coastal fishery resource to be followed by all the nine coastal states.

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