India, now the biggest supplier of America’s favourite seafood — shrimps — has strongly refuted allegations of human rights and environmental abuses raised by a Chicago-based human rights group, and top Commerce Ministry officials will meet seafood exporters on Thursday to discuss efforts to scotch such attempts at maligning its global reputation.
In 2022-23, India’s seafood exports stood at $8.09 billion or ₹64,000 crore and shrimps accounted for a bulk of these exports at $5.6 billion. India has emerged as one of the world’s largest shrimp exporters and its share in the U.S. market has risen from 21% or $1.3 billion to 40% in 2022-23 with shipments worth $2.4 billion, far ahead of rivals like Thailand, China, Vietnam and Ecuador.
Terming a report from Corporate Accountability Lab (CAL) that alleges working conditions in some shrimp hatcheries, growing ponds and peeling sheds, as baseless, a senior official asserted the entire value chain for India’s shrimp exports is certified by the Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) and there is no scope for such concerns about overseas shipments. “This seems to be driven by vested interests aimed at maligning the reputation of our aquaculture sector and its products in global markets,” he noted.
