The more than $8-billion seafood industry has reiterated its demand to expand the area under aquaculture and to create an ecosystem where aquaculture will flourish in the country. Indian industry should get a level-playing field like Ecuador, which has forged ahead in shrimp culture, and Vietnam and Thailand in terms of wild catch, said Seafood Exporters’ Association of India (SEAI) president Jagdish Fofandi on Monday.
He said Ecuador was well entrenched in the US shrimp market, while Indian wild-caught shrimp had been banned in the country over the past four years. Abraham Tharakan, a seafood industry veteran, said Indian shrimp exports to the US used to be worth around $250 million in the past.
They were speaking to The Hindu on the sidelines of the two-day dialogue on fishery certification for achieving sustainable development goals in India. The programme has the support and cooperation from SEAI, Sustainable Seafood Network of India, NITI Ayog, Marine Stewardship Council, and WWF.
Mr. Fofandi said the Indian seafood industry, despite handicaps including deceleration in the Japanese market, had crossed the $8 billion-mark during 2022-23. He added that the demand for surimi (fish paste) from India in the Japanese market had slumped precipitously. This has had a big impact as Japan accounted for the bulk of surimi exports from India. Japan is no longer a major market for Indian seafood.
The seafood industry representatives also pointed out that a drop in catch had not been reflected in the market so far but called for expansion of area under shrimp aquaculture in the country. Ecuador has done extremely well in the area, they said as they called for the creation of such a conducive ecosystem in India, which would create a level-playing field.
While the cultivation of Pacific white shrimp Vannamei has not taken off in Kerala despite the fact that around 60% of the shrimp processed in the State is accounted for by imports from Andhra Pradesh. The area under aquaculture in Gujarat has dropped considerably. South Gujarat, which dominates the aquaculture scene, has seen production dropping from around 90,000 tonnes to 30,000 tonnes.
Mr. Fofandi said aquaculture required not only fields for cultivation but also an ecosystem that would help business flourish. The availability of quality seeds, feed, and electricity charges play a big role in aquaculture, he added.
