Year 2011 has been good for the Indian seafood export industry aided by afalling rupee and surging unit value realisations. While the total value realisations have been up almost 25 per cent, the volume of exports grew tersely at 2-3 per cent even as the unit value in dollar terms moved up smartly, Mr Anwar Hashim, Vice-President of the Seafood Exporters Association of India (SEAI), said.

This was accompanied by increased demand from overseas markets such as South-East Asia and China. Also, farmed shrimp production witnessed substantial growth as more areas were brought under the highly productive vannamei cultivation.

While shrimp exports continue to dominate India's export basket, the current surge in shrimp exports was made possible through increased production of the vannamei variety, Mr D B Ravi Reddy, President of SEAI said.

Year-on-year, there has been a 17-18 per cent depreciation in the value of the rupee enabling the seafood exporters to reap rich rewards. While all seafood exporters stood to gain, it was the exporters who had taken the least forward cover in dollar in the currency futures markets who made the most significant gains, Mr Hashim said. Going by the present trend he said that the fall in the value of the rupee is likely to persist into March – the end of the current fiscal.

Recalling the experience of Thailand and Indonesia where their currency had plunged sharply couple of years back, he said the currencies made good gains but were never able to recover their previous levels. This is likely to be the case in India as well.

India's seafood export has gained considerable mileage on account of the large size of the new vannamei shrimp. Being still early days for vannamei production in India, the nutrient rich soil and water had aided in reaping a rich and large-sized crop. To maintain the crop productivity and size, sufficient nutrients will have to be added before the ensuing seasons. The large size also kindled increased demand for the Indian shrimp. The productivity of vannamei crop is substantially higher than tiger shrimp cultivation, bringing more profits to farmers and shoring up volumes for exports.

Strides in aquaculture have always been accompanied by the call for sustainability, Mr Ravi Reddy said. The effect of fish farming on the environment has to be acceptable in both the short and long term. As the seafood industry in India is about the witness yet another year of growth and success, the industry's commitment to sustainability remains as strong as ever.

The India International Seafood Show 2012, which is to be organised jointly by the Marine Products Export Development Authority and SEAI, from February 29 to March 2 in Chennai will highlight the potential of the Indian marine industry in achieving sustainability, Mr Ravi Reddy said.

Going by the current trends, the ambitious seafood export targets set for the year seems to be within reach. Aided by a significant marine catch and increased aquaculture production, ASSOCHAM's prediction that India's seafood industry, both domestic and exports, would reach Rs 67,800 crore from the current level of Rs 53,000 crore also seems possible.

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